Northern Ireland: anti-migrant riots
The town of Ballymena in Northern Ireland has seen several nights of rioting with cases of arson and violent clashes with the police. Migrants there and in other locations across the country are living in fear. The riots were triggered by the arrest of two Romanian-speaking teenagers on suspicion of rape. The media take a look at the causes of the unrest.
Racist chauvinists running wild
These riots are not motivated by concern for women's safety, The Guardian explains:
“The riots in Ballymena are about racism and nothing more. Hatred smothers every brick and petrol bomb thrown. ... Women have never been safe in Northern Ireland. Generations bore the weight of the Troubles, running households and raising children with absent husbands. Hundreds were murdered in the conflict. During the peace talks that led to the Good Friday agreement, the Women’s Coalition, a political party, described the 30-year conflict as an 'armed patriarchy'. ... Twenty-five women have been killed in five years, mostly by white men from Northern Ireland.”
Hatred is blind
The Romanian community in Northern Ireland is now being targeted by the same hatred that the far-right AUR party recently fuelled during the election campaign in Romania, RFI România points out:
“Hatred is blind. Once it has been stoked it proceeds indiscriminately. Like a tidal wave or an uncontrollable fire. Those who have fallen for the hate speech of Romania's far right can now see where such hatred leads. This should make them stop and reflect. ... And another thing: there has been a deafening silence among Romania's far right about the recent events in Northern Ireland. A silence that speaks volumes.”