Post-Brexit hate crimes reported in Northern Ireland

The Irish Times reports on a number racist incidents in Northern Ireland following the EU referendum result on Friday. The paper notes several cases of abuse and criminal damage with houses daubed with far right insignia such as swastikas and ‘C18’ (Combat 18).

A member of Amnesty International’s Belfast group claimed he was racially abused in a city bar on Saturday 25 June, by a man who asked him if he was from the EU before telling him to “get the f**k out of our country”.

Mohammed Samaana, a nurse who has lived in Northern Ireland for 15 years, told the paper: “At first I thought he was joking, but then he continued the abuse and started shaking his fists at me.

“At that point I decided it was better to leave rather than have the incident escalate.”

Other incidents reported by the paper include racist graffiti and a swastika symbol daubed on the door of a house in Co Armagh, the characters “C18”, painted on another door and damage to two cars.

Police Service Northern Ireland have confirmed the incident in Co Armagh is being treated as a suspected hate crime.

Patrick Yu, head of the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities, said hate crimes in England and Wales since the referendum result was announced were also happening in Northern Ireland.

“I am concerned. Toxic GB is going in this direction. We are working closely with the police monitoring what is happening,” he said.

Amnesty director in the North, Patrick Corrigan, said it “feels like racists now think it is open season to attack people of a different nationality, accent or skin colour”.