Indians In UK Living In 'Fear' After 'Racist' Arson Attacks In Belfast

The Indian community in Britain's Northern Ireland is living in fear as racially motivated anti-immigrant protests continue to rock Belfast and neighbouring areas. Rioters have set an under-construction Indian grocery store on fire in north Belfast, while a hit list has been released targeting the homes of the migrants as protests continued for the second night after a Sudanese man was charged with attempted murder following a brutal knife attack.

Videos on social media and those released by the BBC showed a crowd of protesters hurling objects toward police vehicles, and officers responding by firing water cannons at them in Newtownabbey near Belfast city centre. Firefighters also rescued several people from burning houses, and more than two dozen people were left homeless.

On Shankill Road, an abandoned building where an Indian-origin businessman was planning to open a grocery store in a few months was also set on fire. The victim, who is originally from India but has lived in the UK for the last 18 years, with the last eight of those in Northern Ireland, told the BBC that the attack has left him "heartbroken".

'Indian Are Fearful'

Dr Satyavir Singhal, the chairman of the Indian Community Centre in the UK, told the BBC that he wanted to meet the people behind the attacks and understand their concerns.

"If they feel in some way that it will harm the area, we can sit and talk together. There are no issues on this planet which cannot be solved by talking to each other," he said.

Biji Jose, an Indian-origin nurse who has been living in Northern Ireland for 23 years, said she is worried her colleagues from the Indian community may decide to leave Northern Ireland in the aftermath.

She told the BBC her junior colleagues have been in touch about the recent violence and are "really worried" about their safety.

"At the moment, I can see very anxious faces and too much worry about their families, children, future jobs, insecurity about walking around the street freely like before," she said.

"People sometimes think about we are here to come to take their job. No, it is not the way," Jose added, saying healthcare workers were among the most needed employees in Northern Ireland.

Eemran, an engineer of Indian origin who has been living in Belfast for slightly over a year, told AFP that he witnessed rioters setting fire in the bins. "More and more people started coming, they started throwing petrol bombs. Suddenly, the fire started going...we had smoke inside the building...fire people came in and they said 'go down'," he said. 

People Before Profit assembly member Gerry Carroll said migrants in the UK are stockpiling food because "they're fearful of another summer of unrest".

"We've got a growing migrant community; that should be a welcome thing," he added.

A Viral Threat

On Meta's Threads App, a post has gone viral about a "young Indian man" running away from anti-immigration protesters before being saved by a local. 

"Tonight, from my son who lives in east Belfast," Threads user 'Sharon' wrote while sharing a screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation.

The message read, "Well its happened. [M]obs chased my neighbour from the bus stop, I went out and they left...men in their 40s. Poor guy is terrified, young Indian fella working in a care home."

"They are all South Asian lads, proper shaken. The police have been out, and then left. The boys have my number if they come back, but it was sickening to see that lad running away to his house, I am so angry," it added. 

Belfast Riots

The clash erupted after a brutal Belfast stabbing on Monday, when a 30-year-old man from Sudan tried to 'behead' a man on a Belfast street before the victim was rescued by onlookers. The accused, Hadi Alodid, was caught and ordered held in jail after appearing by video in Belfast Magistrates' Court, where a detective said he blinded Stephen Ogilvie in the left eye during the knife attack. He was also charged with possessing a knife and threatening to kill a radiographer while being treated for a hand injury after the assault.

The attack, caught in video footage that quickly spread on social media, was seized on by anti-immigration activists. The violence comes at a time of heightened tensions in Britain following the murder of a student, Henry Nowak, who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying from stab wounds after his killer, Vickrum Singh Digwa, a Sikh man, falsely alleged a racist attack.

It also follows repeated protests about immigration, with populist parties saying Britain's asylum policy had allowed dangerous men into the country.