Anti-Immigration Protests Enter Second Day in Northern Ireland; Water Cannons Deployed

Anti-immigration protests continued for a second day in Belfast, Northern Ireland, following a stabbing incident involving a Sudanese immigrant.

According to the British newspaper The Guardian, approximately 300 protesters gathered at the Sandown Road roundabout on the evening of June 10, following similar demonstrations on June 9.

The protesters, dressed in black and wearing face coverings, set fire to trucks, trash cans, and vacant houses, while throwing bricks, petrol bombs, and glass bottles at police officers deployed to the scene.

During the unrest, one citizen was struck in the head by a projectile and transported to a hospital.

Authorities reported that 12 police officers also sustained various injuries.

It is understood that the protesters initially planned to attack a nearby hotel currently housing immigrants.

On the night of June 9, the protesters had also targeted shops operated by immigrants, including those from Romania.

After the protesters refused multiple orders to disperse, police deployed water cannons to forcibly break up the crowd.

The resurgence of anti-immigration protests in Belfast was triggered by a stabbing on the night of June 8, in which a 30-year-old Sudanese man seriously injured a white man in his 40s.

The graphic footage of the incident was captured and shared on social media, fueling anti-immigration sentiment in the region.

Following the incident, large-scale anti-immigration protests erupted across Belfast on the night of June 9, resulting in arson attacks on buses, police vehicles, grocery stores, and homes.

As the anti-immigration protests showed signs of spreading, the victim's family issued a statement condemning the violent demonstrations and appealing for an end to the spread of misinformation online.

The British government, which urged local residents to remain calm, assessed that the scale of the protests on the evening of June 10 was somewhat reduced compared to the first day, but still criticized the violent behavior.

When asked in an interview with Sky News on June 11 whether he viewed the violence as a racist riot rather than a protest, Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, responded, "If you are targeting people on the basis of the color of their skin, what else can you call it? It is racist violence."

Benn stated that the violence has left deep trauma across Northern Ireland.

"Every other minority community in Northern Ireland is thinking, 'Are they coming for me?'" he said. "There are reports of people stopping cars on the way to work and asking for nationality, which is completely unacceptable."

Benn also criticized actions that escalate tensions via social media, pointing out that "people who are a long way from Northern Ireland are posting things."

Mark Rowley, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, also told the BBC that he is closely monitoring the risks of unrest fueled by social media, noting that some of it is being encouraged online by "malicious actors abroad."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.