![\"Jahswill](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/002484ab-614.jpg\"\/)
\nJahswill Emmanuel has lived in Northern Ireland for more than 23 years<\/p>\n
Migrant families in Northern Ireland are still living in fear following the riots that took place earlier this week, in mainly loyalist areas of the city.<\/p>\n
Late on Monday night, video footage of a knife attack in the city was widely shared online and sparked three nights of violent protests, predominately targeted at Northern Ireland’s migrant communities.<\/p>\n
Hadi Alodid, originally from Sudan, appeared in court on Wednesday charged with attempted murder, possession of a knife and making threats to kill a hospital radiographer.<\/p>\n
Many migrants were forced to flee from their homes as lists of addresses where non-white people lived were circulated online. Some families were burned out of their homes and multiple vehicles were set alight during the riots.<\/p>\n
When Hossam found out his home was on a so-called ‘hit list’ that appeared to be targeting the houses of migrant families like his, he and his family got out and went to a local church and spent a night in a hotel.<\/p>\n
The following day his neighbours said the violence had died down, and it would be safe for them to return.<\/p>\n
“It’s still scary,” he told RT\u00c9\u2019s This Week programme.<\/p>\n
When he slept in his own home the following night, he said he did not feel safe.<\/p>\n
“When I come here [to Belfast] I felt really safe … now we are really scared about the future.<\/p>\n
“We don’t know if that can happen again,” he said.<\/p>\n
Hossam and his family were some of the hundreds of migrants in Belfast that were helped by a network of volunteers from various organisations across the city this week.<\/p>\n
As migrants suddenly found themselves under threat, these volunteers helped people find safe accommodation, food and information. In some cases, this included being helped to leave the North.<\/p>\n
Jahswill Emmanuel has lived in Northern Ireland for the past 23 years said some migrants took the view that it was safer to get on a ferry to Britain or train to Dublin than stay in Belfast.<\/p>\n
“I had a call from a migrant family that called me and said they can’t – maybe it’s true or it’s not true – but their address on the list, they just have to go to Dublin.<\/p>\n
“They went to Dublin that very evening, which is very devastating,” Mr Emmanuel said.<\/p>\n
“And some people even travelled to London. Some people, they had to leave their home and went to churches to sleep.”<\/p>\n
\nJahswill Emmanuel has lived in Northern Ireland for more than 23 years<\/p>\n
Mr Emmanuel also delivered food parcels to families who were too scared to leave their homes.<\/p>\n
“I love Belfast,” he said from his office at the Multi-Ethnic Sports and Cultures NI, a charity that he founded that promotes racial harmony.<\/p>\n
As a precaution, the homework club run by his charity was cancelled as were this weekend\u2019s matches in the sports league the club is currently running.<\/p>\n
“Belfast is very, very diverse at a minute compared to when I came to Northern Ireland 23 years ago.<\/p>\n
“We have so many cultures now – vibrant cultures in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
“People are welcoming, they are nice, they say hi to you, they greet you, they want to help you. And we also have people that don’t want to see you.<\/p>\n
“They want you out of here, they want you shipped out by boat back to Africa,” Mr Emmanuel said.<\/p>\n
Racially motivated violence<\/p>\n
Last June, racial violence erupted in the town of Ballymena and spread to other parts after two Romanian teenagers were accused of attempting to rape a schoolgirl. The charges were later dropped.<\/p>\n
Many people were worried that the violent attack on Monday night might trigger racially motivated violence similar to what happened last year.<\/p>\n
Francisco Mok, who lives in East Belfast, was advised to go home early from work before roads were closed and public transport was stopped.<\/p>\n
His home was not targeted but the following morning he walked past burned-out cars and houses.<\/p>\n
“I was upset because this is the street that we walk up and down,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t know that there are people there who are bad people that will keep prejudice in their mind whenever something small happened … we are the innocent ones that has to pay for it.”<\/p>\n
Asked if he felt threatened by the violence he saw he replied “of course”.<\/p>\n
“I feel unsafe in the area where I live, especially like the day after because you have to keep an eye out all the time.<\/p>\n
“You have to be cautious [about] what’s going on around you.<\/p>\n
“So, you constantly, constantly have that kind of unsafety in your mind,” he added.<\/p>\n
He added that before this week, he did feel safe in Belfast but on Tuesday “suddenly everything changed drastically”.<\/p>\n
“We feel like we also belong to this country, belong to Northern Ireland, belong to Belfast, part of the community,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Mok said the attacks this week reminded him of Ballymena.<\/p>\n
“It means that whatever’s going on in these people, these rioters mind, although they’re like being kind to us, nice to us, but then when something happens [involving a person of colour] probably they will trigger and they will make it bigger and they will kind of blame it on us.”<\/p>\n