Despite Northern Ireland having relatively low levels of immigration this did not stop it from being affected by the protests that have spread throughout the UK over the weekend. Bolton, Tamworth, Rotherham, Liverpool and Middlesbrough to name but a few were all hit badly, and many Belfast businesses were also targeted in violent attacks.
The 2021 census confirmed that less than 4% of the population in Northern Ireland had been born outside the UK or Ireland, a very small proportion in comparison to many other countries, but there were some very worrying developments this weekend that hopefully will not be played out any further.
Won’t Reopen After Business Was Set Alight
Here are what some of the owners of businesses who had been targeted said about the attacks, as copied from an article on the BBC News website:
“It’s not easy to stay here—more for my life and my safety; I can’t try over and over again with the same result.”
Mohammed Idris, who owns Bash café, in south Belfast, says he will not reopen after his business was set alight during violent protests.
Disorder broke out after an anti-immigration protest in the city on Saturday.
Mr Idris has told BBC News NI his businesses have been targeted before, saying his shop on Sandy Row was targeted last year.
“My computer shop was completely damaged just like this café. This café was a hope, a place for a community – there is no hope here now.”
Recounting the night his cafe was attacked he says a group of people “shouted my name, ‘Where is Mohammed?’ , then they smashed all windows on the ground floor.”
However, he told BBC News NI that the worst came overnight when his business was set on fire.
“For me it’s not easy – it is so difficult when they know your name. It’s scary – my life threatened. A group of people coming – shouting my name, just people who came from different areas.”
Business Reduced To Ashes
A supermarket manager in Belfast said his business had been reduced to “ashes” after it was also targeted during disorder.
Bashir told BBC News NI that police officers advised him to close the Donegall Road business on Saturday afternoon.
At about midnight, he returned to the shop after a friend informed him it was on fire.
He waited for more than three hours before entering the premises, which he said was “like a disaster”.
“Not a single thing [could be saved], nothing,” he said.
“[There was] water coming from the roof, all the groceries were gone, I mean everything.
“I was like: ‘should I cry or should I laugh?'”
This is the third time Sham Supermarket has been targeted. Bashir said “nothing” has been done to protect them.
“If the police would do something they would do it from the first time when this shop has been burned,” he added.
Bashir also criticised police for their response to the violence and questioned why Muslim businesses were being deliberately targeted.
Social media also had a large part to play in the weekend riots, Bashir said.
“I believe those people are brainwashed… somebody is giving them instructions to do all of that, suddenly it was all planned over in England, not only in Belfast.
“People believe [social] media too much – giving them the wrong idea about this community.
“Everybody knows about the Muslim community. Nobody complains, everyone is working.
“People come to the shop buy groceries – that’s what we are doing.”
Everybody should be allowed to run their businesses without fear of attack but sadly this has not been the case these last few days.
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