Days of violence 'a stain on NI's international reputation'

Stormont's health minister has said the violence that erupted last week was a "stain on Northern Ireland's reputation, locally, nationally and internationally".

Northern Ireland made global headlines when a knife attack in north Belfast sparked days of disorder and what police said were racially-motivated attacks. A man has been charged with attempted murder.

Homes, businesses and vehicles were targeted and police were attacked. More than 30 people have been arrested.

International healthcare workers have told BBC News NI they faced intimidation and some feared for their safety. "If they were not with us our health service would collapse and people would die unnecessarily," Mike Nesbitt said.

In the latest incidents, two people were injured after being attacked by a group of men as they were leaving a house on Donegall Avenue in south Belfast early on Sunday morning.

A woman and a number of young children were inside the house during the attack, which police are treating as a racially-motivated hate crime.

Meanwhile, police have said they are also treating an arson attack at a house in Ballysillan, north Belfast, early on Sunday morning as a racially-motivated hate crime.

The house was damaged but no one was injured.

Local resident Blair Paxford witnessed the attack - and said the resident in the house was "throwing flaming curtains out the window".

"It was just horrible to see in the community. You feel very unsafe in your own home."

Speaking on the BBC's Sunday Politics programme earlier, Nesbitt pointed to a family, whose picture had been shown around the world, bundled into the back of a police vehicle as they fled their home.

"Their mum was a nurse," he said.

He referred to the "wonderful international colleagues who prop up the health service", adding that he met healthcare workers at the Mater Hospital in Belfast on Friday and heard some "horrendous stories".

"Some young nurses had to negotiate their way to work past the rioters who were manning barricades around Carlisle Circus, close to the Mater Hospital."

Nesbitt said international workers made up 85% of the workforce of some care homes but he had been told some were "wondering whether it's worth their while staying in Northern Ireland because of the fear".

He added that healthcare workers from other countries were "welcome, essential" and "we very much value the contribution they make in health and social care".

"I thank them for what they do, I reassure them that we and the police, and society generally value them, want them to stay, but I also perfectly understand if they think in terms of assessing their safety they need to step away, I couldn't blame them."

Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said on Friday that police would "strive to deliver justice for those who have been affected by the disorder, racially-motivated attacks and hate-filled social media posts".

Police have said 42 officers were injured during the disorder.

On Saturday, thousands of people gathered at an anti-racism protest in Belfast.

Speaking during Mass in Lurgan on Sunday, Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin said the violence was "outrageous".

Martin praised the "tremendous gifts" brought to sectors like health and hospitality by people from other countries and said racism was a "grave sin".

North Belfast group Anaka Women's Collective has supported people since the disorder broke out, providing accommodation, meals and transport.

Organiser Elfie Seymour said people were asking for support "every few minutes" on a WhatsApp group they set up, and they have housed over 200 families or helped them get emergency housing.

"We had the emergency response group which was literally like 'someone is attacking my house, I need help, I live at this address, people just need to get there as soon as possible' - helping families literally get out of houses that were on fire in certain areas in north Belfast," Seymour said.

They have also had requests from people who needed to get to hospital appointments, whose children needed to get to exams, or who needed food, electricity or gas - but were scared to leave their houses.

Seymour said people were "absolutely terrified" and the fear that had "taken a hold" was "devastating".

With the support of The People's Kitchen, the organisation's volunteers spent Sunday preparing, cooking and delivering home-cooked meals to displaced migrant families.

"If you look about around who's cooking today, it's migrants and people who live here who have a personal risk actually just coming out of their house and coming into a building to cook," Seymour added.

Hossam Hamid, a volunteer with Anaka, moved to Northern Ireland three years ago from Sudan.

He said he "really likes" living in Belfast, but the events of this week had left him "sad" and "scared".

It was organisations like Anaka that made him feel supported.

"I really want to show that other people, we are [here to] support you."

Independent councillor Paul McCusker, who heads up the People's Kitchen on the Antrim Road, described the week's events as "the most horrendous week for Belfast that we've ever seen".

"We were responding to support nurses from the Mater Hospital, not too far from here. I left the People's Kitchen to transport nurses home," he said.

McCusker, a former nurse himself, said he has worked with "incredible" nurses but some had told him they now want to leave Northern Ireland.

"People need to understand that when you're attacking these families, that person could be looking after your mother or father next week."

He has called for an "urgent" cross-government meeting to take place in the wake of the violence.

Seymour said local communities now needed to rally behind displaced migrant families with "solidarity" and "kindness".

"We need to be louder than those people who are rioting on the streets and show people in our communities that they're not alone and that we want them to be here and we want them to feel safe - because we are going to lose a massive amount of incredible people from our communities.

"And I don't even want to say that because then it's like people have won, but we cannot let this fear win."