People will be killed if the series of racist attacks in Northern Ireland continues, campaigners warned today.
The Anti-Racist Network spoke out following an attack on the homes of two Portuguese families in Portadown, Co Armagh, in the early hours of this morning.
Mr Davy Carlin said: "People are being put out of their homes left, right and centre just because of the colour of their skin or the culture they believe in. I believe it's only a matter of time before someone is killed."
The PSNI confirmed the attack on the two Portuguese families in the Moeran Park estate was racially motivated. The doors of their apartments were kicked and battered at 1.30 a.m., causing the glass to shatter.
The Housing Executive arranged temporary accommodation for the occupants of the first apartment, a Portuguese couple and their two children, aged four and six. The brother-in-law and two sisters of the couple, all aged in their 20s, were also moved from the second apartment.
Mr Carlin said the people of Portadown had to unite in condemnation of the attacks. "We have learnt the lesson that action has to come from the community itself, not from people outside. We want the local community to come out in solidarity against these attacks and stand shoulder to shoulder with the victims."
There have been a series of racially motivated attacks in Northern Ireland in recent months. Last Monday, the home of a Lithuanian man was petrol bombed as he recovered in hospital from a previous attack, while a group of Portuguese workers in Dungannon, Co Tyrone were also targeted.
Mr Carlin warned ethnic minorities were being driven out of Northern Ireland by the attacks, which are no longer confined to areas controlled by paramilitaries. "The attacks are becoming more overt, more brutal and more sustained. It is time trade unions, community organisations and other progressive movements got together to take a stand on this," he said.
The chairman of the local District Policing Partnership in Portadown, Mr Jonathan Bell of the Democratic Unionist Party, said the community was outraged.
"The council would be united, the district policing partnership would be united in unequivocally condemning those who perpetrate these actions and seeking to have them made amenable to the courts at the earliest opportunity," he said.
PA