Resident left 'scared' after address posted online

A woman whose address was posted online has said she is scared and no longer feels safe in Northern Ireland.

Ifrah Yusuf came here last year from Somalia. She has been unable to go to work for the last two days because of the unrest.

"Maybe they will attack me for how I dress, how I look," she said.

Twelve police officers were injured and 16 people arrested after Wednesday night's violence. Health care workers were threatened and children evicted from their homes.

Yusuf said what has been happening is "horrible" and that she no longer feels safe.

She received a message on Wednesday night from the police to be careful.

She stayed outside Belfast for a night, but came back this morning and is worried there will be more trouble on Thursday evening.

"We are scared and not feeling safe in Northern Ireland," she said.

But Yusuf said she loves NI and hopes to live here for her "entire life" as she was granted full leave to remain in the UK.

She said she is now working and has started to improve her English at college.

She explained she wants to be able to communicate with people here and to respect their culture.

Yusuf also hasn't been able to go to work at a laundry company for the last two days because of what has been going on.

Beverly Simpson is a nurse who has been living in Northern Ireland for more than 20 years.

She is also an anti-racism campaigner and an independent member of the local policing and community safety partnership in Londonderry.

"I am sick and tired of words… action is needed now," she tells BBC News NI, adding those behind the violence have to be held to account.

"Let them rebuild the community, don't let them sit in jail and enjoy my taxpayers money for destroying my community and targeting me," she says.

A principal has said the number of children attending school has more than halved due to parents' fears following the disorder in Belfast.

Many newcomer children attend Donegall Road Primary School in south Belfast.

Phil Massey said the attendance numbers in his school have decreased since the rioting began.

The school normally have 185 pupils but on Thursday there were just over 80 in attendance.

"We've just under half of our school population not in school today and looking at who those children are – they are predominantly children from newcomer families," Massey said.

A clean-up is under way after disorder was mainly concentrated along one street in the Greater Belfast area, where police deployed water cannon to disperse a crowd.

"We've had a number of phone calls from parents saying that they're just too scared to leave the house and just with the uncertainty of what's going on across the city, and with the rumoured protests, they're just unsure about whether they can come out of their door or not.

"I've also had a couple of members of staff who are from an Indian background who also have phoned into work to say that they're too afraid to come to work."

Massey said the situation has been "very, very difficult".

"While there may be no violence and rioting locally, the atmosphere for those families is just one of complete uncertainty and not knowing what's the next step to take.

"We really miss them in school, we really want them to be here. We don't want our families to feel scared or intimidated to step out of their own front door," Massey said.

A man has described his terror as homes were set on fire during the second night of disorder.

Glengormley resident Paul Sharkey said he was "petrified" when he saw masked men walking up his street and setting fire to homes.

Riot police came under sustained attack from a group throwing bricks, bottles and pieces of wood at a major roundabout to the north-west of Belfast.

"It was terrifying," Sharkey told BBC News NI.

"A van was sat alight and pushed towards my home. I hardly slept a wink."

The intimidation and disorder followed a knife attack on Monday, where a man was left with serious injuries, including losing an eye.

A woman whose daughter videoed the attack said it has left her too afraid to leave her house.

Speaking to The Nolan Show, Karen described how her daughter Rachel is now receiving death threats by people saying she should have done more to help.

"When you're a young 26-year-old girl – I don't know what else she was supposed to do and I for one am glad that she didn't intervene because it could've been a very different story for us," Karen said.

She said Rachel was on her way home from work and was dropped off at her partner's house then received a call from her friend saying that something was going on outside.

When Rachel arrived she shouted "get off him" then went over but saw the knife so she stopped.

She then took her phone out and phoned an ambulance and her friend phoned the police. Rachel then started videoing the attack.

Karen told the programme that she does not know who shared the video online but it was not Rachel or anyone in their family.

After the incident Rachel was taken to hospital and was sedated.

"Every time she closes her eyes she still sees exactly what went on and what happened."

After the knife attack, outrage and upset led to protests, some peaceful, but some turned into violent riots, and people were burned out of their homes on Tuesday.

Across the city, on Wednesday, a nurse was walking into work, when she was confronted by masked men and chased.

Her union said she had done nothing wrong apart from having a "different colour of skin" to the majority of people who live in Northern Ireland.

Despite this, the union said, she "bravely" continued with her shift at the hospital.

• Live updates: NI secretary warns of 'sense of fear' among ethnic minorities

"When we saw the call to arms on social media we knew our overseas members would be under threat," Patricia McKeown from Unison told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"There is no excuse for any of this. This is racism, pure and simple," she said.

She said it was "not good enough to call for calm" and urged leaders to take action.

The South Eastern Trust said it was "horrified" that a nurse on her way to work was "chased and intimated".

The union also said health workers had been left terrified after a "threat" was made against those from overseas who work at Whiteabbey hospital, County Antrim.

Meanwhile, staff living in the vicinity of Belfast City Hospital received letters through their doors, telling them to leave their homes or risk being burnt out.

The Belfast Trust said it was "appalled that some of our staff have been subjected to racist abuse".

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said international workers were "vital and provide an invaluable contribution to their patients and the wider community".

Northern Ireland's chief professional officers, who advise the Department of Health, issued a joint statement saying reports that international staff were chased and intimidated is "utterly horrific".

"To have masked individuals cowardly threaten, abuse and terrorise people simply because of their ethnicity and colour of their skin, and to have police attacked and property burned, is nothing short of disgusting," they said.

"That people should be intimidated from their own homes or feel fearful of walking within their own communities is vile," they added.

One woman, who is originally from Sudan but who has lived in Northern Ireland since 2016, said families were now scared to stay in their homes.

Twasul Mohammed, a Sudanese resident of Belfast who works with community groups, said residents who were fearful of reprisals had sought refuge in a church after racial attacks on their homes.

Most of them were Sudanese, Somali, Syrian and Eritrean families, whose addresses had been posted on social media and they were now scared to stay in their houses, she said.

"We went into the houses and evacuated the families because we were on the phone to them," she said.

"They were terrified locking themselves in the bathroom because petrol bombs were being thrown into the houses.

There was also disorder in Portadown in County Armagh.

Local Methodist minister Darrin Thompson's church is on the street.

He said on Tuesday rioters were able to make their way down Thomas Street and caused "significant damage to properties, people's homes and businesses".

"Last night, there was more police, so they were able to hold them back further up the street."

Thompson says that there has been tension in the town for some time.

"People feel that they're being pressed out of their own town at times. I don't necessarily fully agree with that, but at the same time, that's how people feel. At the same time, these people are here for reasons, either legally or are asylum seekers, newcomers, migrants - they're also looking for a better life.

"We shouldn't be intimidating them and making them fear, the way they did here on Tuesday night."