Commissioner’s statement on incident in Abertillery

23 May 2022

Children’s Commissioner for Wales Rocio Cifuentes said:

“This is clearly an extremely serious and distressing case which is now under police investigation.

“Tackling racist bullying is a priority for me as Children’s Commissioner. I want to work with other organisations, public bodies, and schools to explore the wider issues around racist bullying, and how we can work together to comprehensively address it. In recent years, this office has helped ensure new statutory guidance that sets out duties for monitoring types of bullying, including whether race is a factor. Government has committed to making these duties clearer for schools and we will continue to influence this guidance to build effective anti-bullying strategies.

“Nobody should ever experience bullying or abuse because of their ethnicity, and this is a reminder of how seriously we should be taking our duties as public bodies to address this long-standing issue.

“Wales must be a safe place for all children.”