Mob threatens to kill baby

More than 100 Romanians have been evacuated from their homes in Belfast after a sustained campaign of racist intimidation and violence.

Last night, they were last night in emergency accommodation in the city.

Some of the 20 families affected were injured in incidents which included bricks being thrown through windows.

One man said intruders had threatened to cut a child's throat.

Local residents said the surge of intimidation was the work of "a small group of racist thugs" who had terrified the Romanian families living in two south Belfast streets.

Politicians and community leaders yesterday condemned the attacks, which this week reached a peak after increased tension in the area. One councillor suggested police had been slow to react.

Families were given refuge first in a local church hall and later bussed to a leisure centre in another part of the city.

One man showed a stitched wound on his abdomen which he said had been caused by broken glass after the windows were smashed in his house.

"Ten persons, they drink, they no good, they broke in the house," he said in broken English.

Another man, Couaccusil Filuis, said the intruders had even threatened to kill children.

"They made signs like they wanted to cut my brother's baby's throat," he said. "They said they wanted to kill us."

A woman in the leisure centre, who gave her name as Maria, said: "We are okay, we are safe now. But we want to go home because right now we are not safe here. I want to go home because I have two kids and I want my kids to be safe." One of the children in the centre was just five weeks old.

The incidents are the latest in a series of eruptions of racist activity which over the past 10 years have been directed at Poles, Africans, Portuguese, Lithuanians, Latvians, Filipinos and many other nationalities.

The attacks took place in Wellesley Ave and Belgravia Ave, which are high-density, low-rent streets housing many students and others on short-term lets. Close by is the loyalist Sandy Row area.

The attackers are likely to be young, disaffected Protestants, although the police and locals do not believe they are members of paramilitary groups or organised gangs.

Fewer than 1000 Romanians live in Northern Ireland.

The number of racist incidents has risen, last year reaching almost 1000, but this has not halted a steady flow of immigrants.

Their arrival has given Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland a more cosmopolitan and international aspect, to the point that foreign accents are now routine.

The Romanians, in particular, have suffered from events after a soccer match in March, when Northern Ireland played Poland at Windsor Park.

The game was followed by widespread disturbances involving Northern Ireland supporters and fans who had travelled from Poland.

Several people, including 11 police officers, were injured.

In the days after the homes of both Poles and Romanians came under attack, starting the sequence which culminated in recent events.

On Monday a rally held in support of the Romanians was abused and attacked by youths who threw bottles and gave Nazi salutes.

Malcolm Morgan, pastor at the church which housed them overnight, said: "It's a sad indictment of our society, but hopefully we can show them a different side to Northern Ireland."

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who visited the leisure centre, said it was a "totally shameful episode".

He added: "We need a collective effort to face down these criminals in society who are intent on preying on vulnerable women and children."

NEW ARRIVALS

* 27,000 Immigrants to Northern Ireland from 1991 to 2007
* 8000 Immigrants to Northern Ireland since EU expansion in 2007
* 4900 Immigrants from Poland
* 1365 Immigrants from Czech Republic
* 1000 Immigrants from Lithuania
* 1000 Immigrants from Romania

- INDEPENDENT