‘Terrified’ Belfast Muslims have expected racist violence for months
Footage shows houses and vehicles being set alight by masked groups following the stabbing of Stephen Ogilvie
Muslims in Belfast are “terrified” and have been expecting racist violence for months, with some families having stockpiled food because of their fear of rioting, groups in Northern Ireland’s capital have told Hyphen.
Dr Naomi Green, assistant secretary general at the Muslim Council of Britain — who lives on the outskirts of the city — said on Wednesday that minority communities were bracing themselves for a possible second night of violence amid what she referred to as “ethnic cleansing”.
But she praised efforts from groups who have helped evacuate vulnerable families from their homes and take them to safety. Messages seen by Hyphen show that a local maternity unit was also providing free taxis to transport pregnant women to hospital. A fundraiser launched by Anaka Women’s Collective, a community organisation, has collected more than £84,000 in donations for people affected by the violence.
Tuesday’s shocking scenes came after the stabbing of Stephen Ogilvie on Monday evening. A 30-year-old Sudanese man, Hadi Alodid, has been charged with attempted murder. In the hours that followed, rioters set fire to homes, cars and a Translink bus. Videos from the homes of migrants, seen by Hyphen, also showed bricks had been thrown through windows.
Green said violence had been “normalised” by right-wing politicians who have legitimised fears about immigration.
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“What’s difficult is that we knew this was coming,” said Green. “We could feel it in the air. The horrendous attack on Monday night was just the trigger point of everything that has happened — it’s not the cause. The dehumanisation and rhetoric about Muslims taking over has been going on for a much longer time.”
She added: “We are gearing up for another bad night. We will wait and see what tonight brings but it’s possibly going to be worse.”
Earlier today, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said on X that it would monitor the violence but added: “Politics must be seen to work by addressing genuine concerns about our broken immigration system.”
Meanwhile, Carla Lockhart, a DUP MP, shared a video of herself outside Westminster blaming the government for the unrest in Belfast. “The government needs to realise that this is on them. I don’t condone violence and I’m calling for calm, but ultimately politics needs to step up,” she said.
Green highlighted that Northern Ireland has one of the lowest rates of immigration in the UK. According to the 2021 census, around 8.6% of its population was born outside of the UK.
She said she believed the violence was being “orchestrated” by organised groups, adding that she had seen video footage of people walking the streets of north Belfast holding guns and believed there were paramilitary organisations involved.
Videos shared on social media of the unrest on Tuesday showed some people banging on doors or forcing entry into homes. “What’s different about this is the housing intimidation,” Green added. “They are going door to door and openly posting themselves setting houses alight. In my view, this is ethnic cleansing. That’s certainly the feeling I’m getting from talking to people on the ground here.”
But she praised the efforts of people who had come to the rescue of victims on Tuesday evening. “We were getting messages in our group from people saying, ‘my house has been attacked, this is my address, where do I go?’ And we had voluntary groups, civilians, taking their cars and putting themselves at risk going into areas and evacuating people out and taking them to safe spaces.”
She added: “Every Muslim today in Northern Ireland knows somebody who has either not been able to get home, or who has felt intimidated in their home, or has been put out of their home. There isn’t anyone who hasn’t got a panicked call from someone they know.”
Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR), a Belfast-based human rights organisation, said its volunteers were among those supporting victims of the violence on Tuesday evening. Chloë Trew, its director, echoed Green’s view that the attacks were carried out by organised groups.
“What we saw was the forensic targeting of houses occupied by Black and minority ethnic individuals and families by organised gangs, implying a level of co-ordination and organisation rather than an outpouring of uncontrolled rage,” she said.
The group added that it felt the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI) response to the violence had been inadequate. “Our volunteers on the ground reported that even where there was a PSNI presence, officers at times did not step in to assist, despite clear and present threats to people’s safety and to property,” said Twasul Mohammed, an anti-racism organiser at PPR.
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The riots brought much of the city to a halt. Many businesses remained closed on Wednesday, with some schools also sending pupils home. The transport network, Translink, said it would stop its services by 6pm on Wednesday. Green said she had pulled her own children out of school earlier today. “My son had someone in his class say to him, ‘I was out rioting last night’. It doesn’t feel safe in school any more.”
Edwin Graham, vice chair of the Northern Ireland Interfaith Forum, told Hyphen that many ethnic minority families had kept stockpiles of food in their homes “to make sure that they had enough supplies to see them through a period of uncertainty like this”.
“There are a large number of families who are very uneasy and literally afraid to leave their homes and go out into the streets,” he said.
Graham said he believes inadequate religious education in Northern Ireland may have played a part in the spread of misinformation.
“You’ve got to put this in the context of the Supreme Court ruling on religious education last year, which ruled that the way in which RE is being taught in schools is ‘indoctrination’,” he said. “These are the consequences that have come with that, and I think what we are seeing play out on the streets is partly attributable to the poor quality RE we have had in Northern Ireland over centuries.”
Graham said politicians had failed to adequately respond to the crisis. “There needs to be robust political leadership that condemns racism.”
Trew urged authorities to prioritise moving displaced families to safety. She added: “We must not allow the actions of organised racists to win out in their attempt to spread fear, cause harm, and ethnically cleanse entire areas and communities.”
