Belfast set on fire. Anti-immigration protests which degenerated into riots continued all night in the capital of Northern Ireland. The violence was triggered by the attempted murder of a forty-year-old at the hands of a 30-year-old Sudanese refugee who will appear in court today: the stabbing has been ruled out as terrorism. Perhaps it was a fit: the local police are investigating to clarify.
Anti-migrant protests in Belfast
Cars and houses were set on fire in some areas of the city and police were also attacked by hundreds of protesters. A bus was set on fire and all public transport was stopped as a precaution. Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill’s comment was very harsh, speaking of “thugs and criminals”. “Entire families have been attacked outside their homes by disgusting cowards,” he added.
According to British media reports, several immigrants have been protected by their neighbors. A sit-in organized by right-wing extremist Tommy Robinson was also held last night in front of the Houses of Parliament in London.
Fearing new anti-migrant unrest in Northern Ireland, Keir Starmer’s Labor government and local authorities yesterday appealed for calm. However, as the hours passed, tensions rose and several protesters took to the streets of Belfast. The protests spread across County Antrim and other locations in Northern Ireland. Local media report shops, homes and police cars set on fire in the capital and other cities. In some cases the firefighters who intervened to put out the fires were chased away by the demonstrators.
The stabbing
In the footage of the attack circulated online, the attacker is seen pinning the man to the ground and hitting him several times with a knife. The Daily Telegraph spoke of an alleged beheading attempt, foiled thanks to the intervention of some passers-by who stopped the stabber. In the video, one of the passers-by is seen brandishing a hurling stick, a traditional Irish sport. The victim of the attack, which occurred in the north of the city, was seriously injured with significant injuries to his face, neck and back.
The thirty-year-old attacker was arrested and is accused of attempted murder. The police said that nothing at the moment suggests a terrorist attack. The investigations, however, continue. According to the authorities, the man left Sudan to reach Paris, then went to Dublin and finally applied for asylum in Northern Ireland in 2023. He had obtained refugee status and had a residence permit valid until 2028.
Political clash
Prime Minister Starmer spoke of “abhorrent” aggression, calling for zero tolerance for incidents of violence like these on the streets of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland Minister Hilary Benn, speaking in the House of Commons, called for violent protests to be avoided. But the political conflict began immediately: Nigel Farage, leader of the Trumpian Reform UK, asked to reveal the identity and migratory status of the attacker, argued that “the public must know the truth” and with his party went so far as to ask for an entry ban for all Sudanese citizens without distinction.
The stabbing in Belfast has shaken a country already marked by deep controversy over the case of Henry Nowak: the 18-year-old was stabbed to death on 3 December last in a street in Southampton by a young British man of Sikh Indian roots and was then handcuffed in agony by the first two officers who intervened on the scene, who allowed themselves to be convinced by the murderer that the victim was a racist attacker. And it shook a city already the scene of anti-migrant riots, exactly one year after those that had affected Northern Ireland: they had resulted in a sort of hunt for Romanians, as well as clashes with the police, in the wake of the arrest of two teenagers of foreign origin accused of the attempted rape of a girl.