BELFAST: A week of racist unrest in Northern Ireland that began with riots in English towns and cities continues, with concerns that sectarian divisions in the English region are spilling over into violence.
“They burned everything down, there was nothing left inside, just ash,” said Bashir, whose supermarket in Belfast was torched in an attack on foreign-owned shops and businesses.
A mosque in a town near Belfast was also attacked late on Friday.
“I am scared of what will happen next. There is a lot of hostility towards the Muslim community,” said the 28-year-old from Dubai, who did not want to be named for security reasons.
In Northern Ireland, riots have broken out nightly, mainly in pro-British areas, following anti-immigrant protests in Belfast on August 3.
Violence erupted across Britain after misinformation about the suspect in the stabbing attack that killed three children in Southport on July 29 spread on social media.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said 31 people were arrested during the riots on Saturday.
“In essence, the Belfast attack has many similarities to anti-immigrant protests that have occurred in white working-class areas of Britain, Ireland and elsewhere in Europe,” said Peter McLaughlin, a lecturer in politics at Queen's University Belfast.
“It comes from racism and fear of others, but in Northern Ireland it's also linked to sectarian political dynamics,” he told AFP.
The three decades of bitter sectarian conflict known as “the Troubles” largely ended in 1998, but tensions and strife remain between British-supporting Protestant loyalists and Catholic nationalists who support Irish unity.
Outside Bashir's smoky shops in the loyalist inner-city district of Sandy Row, Union Jack flags flutter from streetlights and painted murals proclaim fierce loyalty to Britain.
“There is a perception within loyalists that their communities are being left behind by the Northern Ireland peace process, that their communities and their British identity are under attack,” McLaughlin explained.
He added that many loyalists felt they should oppose “outsiders coming into the area, taking Protestants' jobs and homes and invading what was once a dominant community”.
After last Saturday's anti-immigrant protests, rioters rampaged through the streets, looking for foreign-owned businesses to attack.
“What happened last week was absolutely crazy,” Yilmaz Batu, a 64-year-old Turkish chef who has lived in Northern Ireland for two years, told AFP.
“There was no problem before,” he said, sitting at the Sahara Shisha Cafe, one of several Middle Eastern and Turkish businesses near Sandy Row.
“Much of the violence is fuelled and incited by deliberate misinformation and disinformation spread on social media,” the Muslim Council of Northern Ireland said in a statement.
He added that “false and dangerous stories” about Northern Ireland's Muslim minority had led to the attacks.
Northern Ireland has a lower immigration rate than other parts of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
According to the 2021 census, around 6% of the population were born outside the UK or Ireland, and around 97% described their ethnicity as white.
Fiona Doran, chair of the United Against Racism group which co-organised the solidarity vigil in Belfast on Saturday, said the disorder was “extremely shocking to the whole community”.
The demonstration, which drew thousands of people, gave people “an opportunity to come out and show that Belfast is a welcoming city and a city that says 'no' to racism and fascism,” she told AFP.
At an anti-immigrant rally in Belfast the day before, about 100 protesters held British flags and placards reading “Respect our country or get out!”
Some chanted the name of Tommy Robinson, the notorious anti-Islam agitator who has been accused of inciting the riots in Britain and has been posting regularly about the incident on social media.
Nearby, more than 1,000 counter-protesters chanted “Racists out!” behind a convoy of armored police vehicles.
Bashir told AFP on Saturday it was unclear whether he would reopen his supermarket.
“My question is, can we do it? If we can, it will be thanks to all the people who came out to show their support,” he said after the solidarity demonstration.
