Hilary Benn says he is shocked and angered by ‘racist violence’ in Belfast

Hilary Benn has condemned “racist violence” in Belfast in recent days and stressed that it “does not represent Northern Ireland”.

The Northern Ireland Secretary said he was “deeply shocked and angered” after hearing from business owners who had been targeted by “rampaging disorder” following anti-immigration protests.

Civic leaders, churches, trade unions and businesses have called for an end to the rioting in Belfast after three nights of disorder.

Northern Ireland’s commissioner designate for victims of crime Geraldine Hanna said the recent violence had been fuelled by prejudice and misinformation.

Mr Benn said he had spoken to First Minister Michelle O’Neill, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Justice Minister Naomi Long and Chief Constable Jon Boutcher.

He also spoke to representatives of the Islamic centre, as well as police officers and firefighters that had responded to the disorder in recent days.

Mr Boutcher said on Wednesday night that police officers will be “standing in harm’s way” to ensure that the Muslim community in Northern Ireland are safe.

He said he had held a meeting in Belfast on Tuesday night with all the leaders of mosques across Northern Ireland.

“It’s clear to me you are living in fear… and I want to assure you: we will deal with it,” he said.

Speaking at a community centre in Belfast on Wednesday, Mr Benn said there was a responsibility on all elected representatives “to call out this racist violence for what it is”.

“What we have been witnessing is completely unacceptable. This does not represent Northern Ireland. It doesn’t represent the great city of Belfast. This is not what Northern Ireland wants to be known for.”

He said: “ People are entitled to protest and people are entitled to their political views, but there is no justification whatsoever for engaging in this kind of violence that is targeting particular communities.

“Members of these communities, some of whom I’ve met today, are frightened. They are afraid. People are afraid to go out of their own houses.”

He said this included health workers who are unsure they wanted to stay in the region after the disorder.

Mr Benn called on people to imagine if it was their family business or home and people tried to kick in the door, as had happened on Tuesday night in Belfast.

He said: “What is that about? These are people living in our community. They are part of our community, and you know where we should feel safest? It’s at home.

“When people are at home and they don’t feel safe, that, I think, reflects very badly on all of us. It should be a cause of shame that this is taking place and my message is: stop.”

Ms Little-Pengelly said issues such as access to public services are “wholly separate” from the violence “fuelled by racism”.

She said: “We acknowledge that there are concerns, I have no doubt that many of those concerns are very genuinely held, and that is about access to our public services, access to affordable housing in particular.

“But those are issues that we need to address through government, through democratic means. Nothing is achieved (through) violence, particularly that racist targeting towards those people who have set up businesses here in Northern Ireland, causing that fear for those people who are working hard to provide those really essential public services for all of us.”

She was speaking at the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine with MP Gregory Campbell, who said that if people who had come to work in the region’s hospitals were to leave, the healthcare service would “collapse”.

Mr Campbell said they will be pressing the UK government to act on the “boats coming in and people coming in illegally”, but that this was separate to people being attacked who are in Northern Ireland legally and pay their taxes.

He added: “Let us ensure that we don’t intertwine these two issues to the extent that concern about an open door immigration policy becomes described as racist and results in attacks on people that we’ve seen in the past few days.”

Six people, ranging in age from 14 to 41, have been charged following a number of race-related hate crimes and disorder across Belfast.

Three men, aged 26, 28 and 41 years, have been charged with offences including criminal damage, riotous behaviour, incitement to hatred and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.

They are due to appear at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

Three teenage boys, arrested on Tuesday in the Shankill area of Belfast, have also been charged.

Two boys aged 16 and one boy aged 14 have been charged with riotous behaviour and are due to appear at Belfast Youth Court on September 2.

All charges are reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones described a third night of officers dealing with incidents such as assaults, criminal damage and arson in a challenging environment.

The unrest started in Belfast on Saturday following an anti-immigration protest, and continued on Monday evening in the south of the city.

It comes amid scenes of disorder in parts of England in recent days.

Four men linked to disorder on Saturday appeared at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

A 15-year-old boy appeared before the same court on Wednesday charged with rioting. All four were remanded.

Ms Jones said on Tuesday that officers received a report at around 6.10pm that a shop on the Falls Road had eggs thrown at it and that staff inside were being racially abused by a group of young people.

“A 15-year-old boy was assaulted, and while he received minor facial injuries, I have no doubt this was a terrifying incident for the young victim,” she said.

“When police attended, a large group from the local community were outside to defuse the situation. A 14-year-old boy was cautioned for offences such as common assault, disorderly behaviour and criminal damage. We will review the evidence gathered and follow this up in the coming days.”

Meanwhile there was a report of a group of young people wearing masks in the Shankill area.

Ms Jones said officers attended and arrested three boys, two aged 16 and one aged 14, on suspicion of riotous behaviour. They remained in police custody on Wednesday morning.

“We also dealt with a report of a hijacking in the Fingal Street area of west Belfast at around 8.45pm, followed by a report that a car was deliberately driven at a business in the Woodvale Road area, causing damage to the shutters. The suspects made off from the scene,” she said.

“Officers dealt with a number of reports of criminal damage to homes and cars in the Enfield Street, Woodvale Road and Rathlin Street. Three men, aged 26, 28 and 41 years, were arrested in connection to the Rathlin Street report on suspicion of offences including criminal damage and they remain in custody at this time.

“There were also reports of bins set on fire in the Newtownards Road area of east Belfast, which caused some traffic disruption for a period of time as the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service dealt with the fire.”

Ms Jones described the scenes in recent days across Belfast as “a disgrace” which “have no place in Northern Ireland”.

“We continue to engage with the groups affected by this criminality and hope these arrests show the community that we are taking action,” she said.

“Our Public Order Enquiry Team will continue to review footage to attempt to identify those involved, as well as those organising and orchestrating this disorder. As with any investigative process, the Police Service will follow the evidence and present it to the Public Prosecution Service.

“I am appealing to the public directly: do not let these criminals hide in your community. Anyone with any information which can help identify any of these individuals should contact police.

“We have set up a Major Incident Public Portal for people to submit information, images and footage.

“Photos and footage, including CCTV, mobile phone or dash cam footage, can be shared with police through the Major Incident Public Portal at Public Portal (mipp.police.uk).”