Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has condemned what he described as “racist thuggery” following a second consecutive night of violent anti-immigration protests in Belfast. The unrest resulted in 16 arrests and left 12 police officers injured.
Violent Protests Continue
Speaking to Sky News, Benn stated that during the disturbances, individuals were stopped in their cars and asked about their origins, targeted solely because of their skin colour. When questioned whether these events constituted racist riots rather than mere protests, Benn responded unequivocally: “If you are targeting people on the basis of the colour of their skin how else can you describe them? That is racist thuggery, there’s no question about it at all.”
The violence erupted following a serious knife attack on Monday, which left a man named Stephen Ogilvie severely injured. Benn confirmed that 12 police officers were injured and 16 arrests were made during the unrest, adding that people from minority ethnic backgrounds in Northern Ireland were living in “terror and fear”.
Police Support and Further Unrest
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is set to receive assistance from Police Scotland, including dog teams to aid public order control, Benn told BBC Breakfast.
Unrest was reported in Belfast, Derry, and Coleraine, though disturbances were fewer compared to Tuesday, when mobs targeted people of colour. A Department for Infrastructure vehicle was set alight as rioters confronted police with bricks and paving stones near the Sandyknowes roundabout in Newtownabbey, north-west Belfast. Rioters also attempted to set fire to a derelict property and wheelie bins, with some throwing petrol bombs at police lines. In Derry, items were set alight on the Ardmore Road. The family of Ogilvie expressed disgust at the disorder.
John Blair, an Alliance Party member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Antrim, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Newtownabbey had experienced unrest by “a mob on a rampage of violence and destruction”.
Impact on Communities
Blair described how people in Belfast had been driven from their homes and watched as their families were bundled into police cars for evacuation. “I’ve spoken with these people in the last 48 hours, and they are living in sheer terror. They’re afraid of going to work in case they can’t get home. They’re worried if they get home, they won’t be safe in their homes,” he added.
On Wednesday afternoon, Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old Sudanese man, appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court charged with attempting to murder Stephen Ogilvie, threatening to kill an NHS radiographer on the same day, and possessing a knife.
Immigration Concerns Addressed
Following reports that Alodid may have been “fast-tracked” through the asylum-claim system in 2023, Benn clarified that the process was introduced by the previous government and is no longer in place. He added that net migration is down 82% from its peak. “We’re now processing asylum claims much, much quicker,” he told the Today programme. “We are seeking to get a grip on this, we want a fair migration system, but we also honour the obligation we have to people fleeing persecution.”
Emma Little-Pengelly, the deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, stated that some participants in the violence were “trying to manipulate a genuinely held concern” about immigration. She emphasised that violence is “absolutely wrong, and we … have been united and calling for that to stop immediately”. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Little-Pengelly said: “What some of these elements that want to create this type of disorder and violence are trying to do is to manipulate a genuinely held concern by many people, a frustration by many people.”
