Northern Ireland: Racist attack in Belfast - “We fear that it is only a matter of time before lives are lost”

“We fear that it is only a matter of time before lives are lost” - Patrick Corrigan

In response to the latest incident of racist hate crime, Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland programme director of Amnesty International, said:

“We are disgusted that yet again there has been another racist arson attack. This is happening on a regular basis in Northern Ireland, particularly in parts of Belfast and we fear that it is only a matter of time before lives are lost.

“What’s even more worrying is that we rarely see prosecutions follow these attacks. Those responsible feel emboldened by a sense of impunity to come back again and again and it must end now.

“The police must commit the necessary resources to catch those responsible and instil public confidence that Northern Ireland is not a safe place for violent racists, because frankly, that is increasingly how it looks.”