Hate crime is a "significant and growing problem" in Northern Ireland, a committee of MPs said today.
Recent figures from the Police Service showed there were 453 incidents involving ethnic racial minorities and 71 involving homophobia in 2003/2004 - double the rate for the previous year.
The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee said it had heard evidence that would suggest the recorded crimes were underestimated by a "considerable margin" by police because of a failure of victims to report attacks.
"While the figures may be modest, the upward trend is unmistakable," said committee chairman Mr Michael Mates. "Government action to prevent further increases is required now. We are convinced that strong law and effective policing are key parts of any strategy to confront these despicable crimes.
"We must send the strongest possible signal that such activity is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our society," added Mr Mates.
At the same time the committee said it received evidence that existing legislation was not being used to full effect. That was borne out by the fact there were only seven prosecutions arising from 226 racial incidents recorded by the PSNI in 2002/03.
The report added: "We expect to see the problem tackled more vigorously in the future by the Police Service of Northern Ireland than appears to have been the case in the past."
The British government was also told by the committee to include attacks on the disabled in the legislation being introduced in a bid to stop the growing level of attacks carried out because of race, sectarianism or sexual orientation.