A report from a leading leftist newspaper has declared that the anti-migration rioters in the Northern Irish town of Ballymena “won” as Roma minorities have begun to flee the area.
In July, unrest broke out over the course of three nights in Ballymena amid a trial against two 14-year-olds, reportedly of Roma gypsy heritage, for allegedly sexually assaulting a young girl in the area. Locals clashed with police, set fires, and targeted houses believed to be inhabited by migrant communities.
Now, a month after the event, some residents have claimed victory and that the riots resulted in dozens of Romanian and Bulgarian migrants leaving the County Antrim town.
Speaking to the left-wing Guardian newspaper, one woman who was a witness to the riots remarked: “That’s them away back home. Everybody is relieved… It was madness but it was long overdue. The Romanians were ignorant and cheeky. Everyone now is at peace.”
Another said that she was happy the migrants had left, telling the paper: “The place is empty, a lot have left… You didn’t know who was coming and going. Now it’s a lot calmer. You can let your weans [children] out on the street a bit further.”
When pressed by the Guardian about whether the riots had therefore achieved their aim, she replied simply, “Yes.” For its part, the paper added: “The rioters, after all, got what they wanted. They won.”
While some who spoke to the paper lamented the “racism” involved in the riots and that some Filipino migrants were unjustly targeted, even a migrant from Slovakia hailed the result, and accused the Roma of having sparked the riots through their behaviour. “I’m happy with what happened. Now they’re gone,” he said.
Another added that while he did not support the violence, the area had been revived with the departure of the gypsy migrants, saying: “Ballymena was like a whole new town, there was an amazing atmosphere. It was like something out of a movie where the bad gang has been kicked out and people come out to celebrate.”
Anti-migration unrest, which reached a fever pitch last summer in the wake of the mass stabbing by a second-generation Rwandan teen that left three young girls dead and ten injured at a children’s dance party in Southport, has not been contained to Northern Ireland in recent weeks.
Multiple nights of chaotic scenes have also erupted over the past week in the English town of Epping after an illegal migrant from Ethiopia, Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, allegedly sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl just days after being put up by the government in an asylum hotel in the town. Thousands of locals have taken to the streets over the past week, demanding that the government protect their children and remove the illegals.
Tensions were raised further amid claims that the Essex Police displayed preferential treatment to so-called anti-racist counter-protesters and after a police van was filmed ramming into a man among the anti-migrant hotel demonstrators.
Meanwhile, a report over the weekend claimed that hotel migrants — who are costing the British taxpayer billions every year — have been accused of committing over 700 crimes in the past three years, including rapes and sexual assaults. The report noted that the true figure is likely much higher, given that it only examined around 70 of the hundreds of hotels being used by the government to house mostly young male migrants after they illegally cross the English Channel.
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