Burning of houses and cars, harassment and attacks on migrants, as well as the violent flight of families from their homes marked last night in Belfast, which is rocked by anti-immigrant violence.
The arrest of a Sudanese man for the stabbing and wounding of a British man has sparked violent incidents in recent hours.
Rallies were held in several towns, including Londonderry, Antrim, Newtanabey, Ballymena, Bangor and Belfast. Although some protests were peaceful, there were several violent incidents.
Masked youths gathered in various parts of Belfast, with police deploying armored vehicles to quell the unrest. Protesters torched vehicles, including a bus, in east Belfast.
The BBC reported that a crowd of 100 men kicked in doors and smashed windows in an east Belfast street. Sky News released images of houses on fire as a result tenants to be forced out of a block of flats in Belfast city centre.
“At about 7:30 p.m. (local time, 9:30 p.m. Greek time) they started setting fire to trash cans” and then “threw Molotov cocktails,” a resident told AFP. “Suddenly there was smoke in the building and the firefighters told us to get out,” he added.
“It’s a bit terroristic,” commented another resident.
At around 23:00 (local time) the demonstration and riots seemed to be coming to an end due to heavy rain.
“Groups of masked men setting fire to homes where families live is nothing short of an appalling act of cowardice,” Northern Ireland Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill condemned.
“Nothing can justify the attacks that were committed tonight,” he added to X, once again calling for calm.
“I understand that last night’s attempted murder is causing people a range of emotions, from fear to anger,” Deputy Chief Constable Ryan Henderson told a news conference, calling yesterday’s riots “a critical incident”.
Far-right figures in Britain, notably Tommy Robinson, had earlier yesterday called for protests across the country via social media. They even had the support of the head of X, Elon Musk, who explained in his post that “only with repeated and strong demonstrations will there be change”.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Monday’s attack – video of which has been widely circulated on social media – “disgusting”. While local and national authorities appeal for calm and the avoidance of violence.
“It’s just disgraceful that last night there were young children who had nothing to do with the attack in north Belfast, young families who had nothing to do with the attack in north Belfast, who were left homeless and lost everything because of the events of the night before. They are completely innocent and, frankly, it is absolutely unacceptable what they have done to them,” Northern Ireland’s Justice Minister Naomi Long told BBC Radio Ulster.
“What we are seeing is a racial pogrom. We see men going door to door asking foreigners to leave, purely on the basis of the color of their skin,” complained Clare Hanna, MP and leader of the Social Democrats and Labor Party (SDLP).
Struggle in immigrant communities
Members of Belfast’s Sudanese community have expressed concern about the rising tension in the city.
By 4pm on Tuesday, all the foreigners’ shops on Sandy Row had drawn their shutters, while staff rushed home to spend the night there – a picture echoed elsewhere in Belfast.
“All day we were exchanging the same messages: go home early, stay inside, don’t go out,” said Mohamed Mahmoud, a Sudanese grocery clerk. “No one knows what will happen.”
Ali Adan, another Sudanese shopkeeper who has lived in the area for 18 years, told the BBC that anti-immigrant sentiment has intensified since 2018. “Something is happening and people are blaming every immigrant.”
Yura, 19, is part of the Ukrainian family who were forced to leave their home in Lendrick Street, east Belfast, during the riots. He described last night’s scenes as “terrifying”. “I was lucky that my friends live nearby so they hosted me for the night.”
Source: BBC, Guardian, APE
