Increased levels of Islamophobia and negative attitudes towards Polish people could be behind a 20% rise in racist incidents in Scotland, experts have said.

Every day in Scotland, 17 people are abused, threatened or violently attacked because of the colour of their skin, ethnicity or nationality.

Statistics showed that 6171 incidents of racism were recorded in 2009/10 - a rise of 20.4% from the 5123 racist incidents recorded in 2008/9.

The figures, revealed in a freedom of information request to Scotland's eight police forces, come despite there only being a 13% increase over the previous five years.

Part of the rise is thought to be down to an increase in anti-Polish attacks, with the Federation of Poles in Great Britain saying there has been an annual 20% rise in racist incidents.

Alastair McIntosh, fellow at the Centre of Human Ecology and a co-author of studies into racism in Scotland, said Islamophobia is also a problem in Scotland.

He said: "Whenever you have the fear of poverty, people tend to become xenophobic, and I think that's an increasing issue in Scotland with the economic problems we've had recently.

"Muslims in particular are having a hard time of it, and they all seem to get tarred with the same brush. It would be true to say Islamophobia is a problem in this country.”

Incidents of racism directed at refugees are also thought to have increased.

John Wilkes, Chief Executive of Scottish Refugee Council, said: "Fundamentally we believe that Scotland is a welcoming country and many people go out of their way to support asylum seekers and refugees who have been forced to flee violence or persecution in their home countries.

"However we also hear worryingly frequent reports from both those seeking asylum and refugees who have been victim to racist abuse and attacks. Each of these reports is deeply troubling and any rise in the figures is worrying.

"There is no place for this kind of abuse in 21st century Scotland."

Unacceptable

A spokeswoman for the Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland added: "Racism is unacceptable in whatever form it takes and must not be tolerated. Safe and secure community life is an essential right for everyone in Scotland so these figures are disappointing.”

Politicians have also expressed concern at the rise in the figures.

Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker said: "Clearly we haven't managed to deal with these problems and people will be rightly asking why these increases are happening."

Bill Aitken, Conservative justice spokesman, added: "The number of these offences is clearly concerning and is unacceptable in Scotland in any circumstances."

A Scottish government spokesman said: "The Scottish Government is totally committed to ridding Scotland of all forms of hate crime, whoever the victims are, and those found guilty in the courts can expect to be dealt with by the full force of the law.

"As well as strengthening the laws in relation to hate crime, we have committed £10.5m between 2008 and 2011 to support projects run by 53 organisations delivering race and faith equality and improving the lives of minority ethnic and faith communities."

According to figures released in 2010, race hate victims were most likely to be of Pakistani origin, with 48% of all those targeted classed as Asian, followed by white British.

The majority of victims - 76% - were men and the vast majority of race hate perpetrators – 96% - were classed as white British. Of these, most were men aged 16-20, followed by men under the age of 16.

Strathclyde Police reported the highest number of incidents with 2826, while Lothian and Borders Police dealt with 1494 incidents. The lowest recorded total was in Dumfries and Galloway, where police dealt with 70 racist incidents.