Six people have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and violent disorder after a teenage asylum seeker was beaten up and left unconscious.
The four men and two women, all aged between 20 and 24, were arrested on Saturday evening at several addresses in Croydon, southeast London, and taken into custody at a police station.
Detectives are continuing to appeal for information and witnesses to the attack, which is being treated as a suspected hate crime.
The 17-year-old asylum seeker, a Kurdish Iranian, was waiting at a bus stop with two friends at about 11.40pm on Friday when they were approached by a group of eight people.
After discovering he was an asylum seeker, they chased him and launched a "savage" attack including "repeated blows to the head", police said.
The teenager remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition with a fractured skull, a blood clot on his brain and facial injuries.
His two friends escaped with minor injuries.
DS Kris Blamires, from Croydon CID, said: "A number of people came to the aid of the victim as he lay unconscious and injured following the assault.
"The suspects are believed to have made off in the direction of the Goat Pub, Broom Road following the attack.
"I would encourage all those who came to his aid and those in the immediate area who witnessed the attack or saw the males leave the scene to get in touch.
"All communities stand together against hate and we would ask anyone with any information to come forward immediately."
The local community has been left shocked by the ferocity of the attack, and extra officers have been out and about to try to reassure people.
Tory minister Gavin Barwell, Croydon Central's MP, described the attackers as "scum".
"I think most people in Croydon will be as appalled as I am that what appears to have happened is a young man who came to this country seeking sanctuary has apparently been targeted because of his ethnic background," he said.
"It's an appalling crime and I hope the people responsible are caught quickly and receive the full force of British justice."
He said Croydon generally had "very good relations between people of different backgrounds".
"This is completely out of character but that is no comfort to the individual who is fighting for his life now," he added.
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott suggested the Conservatives had failed to get to grips with hate crime.
She said: "Sadly this is not an isolated incident but part of a sustained increase in hate crimes that this Tory Government is yet to offer any effective response to.
"With right-wing politicians across the world scapegoating migrants, refugees and others for their economic problems, we are seeing a deeply worrying rise in the politics of hate.
"We must make clear that there is no place for anti-foreigner myths, racism and hate in our society."
:: Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
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