Violence in Northern Ireland: understand the wave of anti-immigration protests

Hundreds of protesters, many with their faces covered, attacked police and torched vehicles in different locations across Northern Ireland in a wave of anti-immigration violence on Tuesday night (9), which follows a knife attack for which a Sudanese man was charged with attempted murder.

Masked men set fire to family homes in Belfast, the country's capital, and set fire to cars and buses after a video of the attack, in which the victim lost an eye, went viral.

Political leaders have said the violence targets ethnic minorities. "It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate that," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement. "Those responsible will feel the full rigor of the law."

The suspect in the attack in north Belfast, a 30-year-old Sudanese man, identified as Hadi Alodid, appeared in court this Wednesday (10), where he was remanded in custody. The victim, in his 40s, suffered serious injuries to his face and back, the court heard.

Prime Minister condemns the "cowardice" of masked men
Videos of the attack circulated online throughout Tuesday, sparking calls for violent protests on social media.

Police had to help a family escape a burning house. Several cars and a bus were set on fire and reduced to ashes. Local politicians and a pastor said many of the victims were black.

"There is no excuse or justification for these attacks," said Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill. "Groups of masked men burning down houses and driving families from their homes is nothing short of an act of disgusting cowardice."

Elon Musk calls for protests
The attack, which is not currently being treated as terrorism, comes at a time of heightened tensions in the UK following the murder of a student who was handcuffed by police as he agonized from stab wounds after his killer, a Sikh man, falsely claimed a racist attack.

The attack also comes after repeated protests over immigration, with populist parties claiming that the UK's asylum policy has allowed dangerous men into the country.

Technology billionaire Elon Musk republished several messages denouncing the situation in the United Kingdom. In response to a post by anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson about the case in north Belfast, in which he called for protests after "yet another attack by invaders against our people", Musk said: "Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!"

Northern Ireland's Justice Minister Naomi Long told the Reuters news agency that "people of bad faith", who would previously have had difficulty finding the province on a map, had tried to exploit the understandable fear and anger provoked by the knife attack to attack people of the same skin colour.

"Do not allow your genuine concerns to be manipulated by people of bad faith," she said. "We know in Northern Ireland the damage that can be done when you demonize an entire group of people because of the behavior of a few, and we don't want to go back to that situation."

Protesters in Northern Ireland set fire to buses in anti-immigration protests after knife attack - Reproduction/Reuters
Protests in London and Scotland
Claire Hanna, leader of the SDLP (Social Democratic and Labor Party, opposition in Northern Ireland), described the violence as a "racial pogrom". "The online ecosystem that fostered this will now move on and the people of Belfast will have to deal with the consequences," she told Reuters.

Smaller protests were reported in other parts of Britain on Tuesday night, including in London, where protesters briefly blocked Parliament Square, and in Scotland's two largest cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The disorder in Northern Ireland is the latest episode of violence in the UK in response to crime, often linked to immigrants, which has led some prominent anti-Islamic and anti-immigration campaigners to call on people to "take to the streets".

Belfast pastor Jack McKee told British broadcaster BBC that some members of his church, who had lived there for 20 years, were being kicked out simply because they were black.

Immigration has been historically low in Northern Ireland due to the three-decade conflict between Irish nationalists, mostly Catholics, who sought the unification of Ireland, and pro-British unionists, predominantly Protestants, who wanted to remain in the United Kingdom, and the British military.

Migration has increased in recent years, and anti-immigration sentiment has intensified both in Northern Ireland and parts of the Republic of Ireland.

According to the 2021 census, 96.6% of Northern Ireland's inhabitants were white.

Northern Ireland was also the scene of anti-immigration riots last year, amid outrage over an alleged sexual assault. Charges against two young men were later dropped by the prosecution.

Source: CNN