Police in Belfast, Northern Ireland, were treating a new attack on a Romanian family as a hate crime after a series of similar incidents in the city, authorities said Thursday.
A window at the family’s house in east Belfast was broken shortly after 11 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) Wednesday, Belfast police said. The family was home at the time but unhurt, police said. Police appealed for information about what they called a “racist incident.” On Tuesday night more than 100 Romanians fled their homes and took refuge in a church after suffering attacks and threats. Windows of their homes in south Belfast were smashed, according to a spokeswoman for the Belfast City Church, which took the families in for the night. The group included more than 40 children and a five-day-old baby, according to Vincent Parker, a member of the Sinn Fein political party who went to the church.
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He said the victims are Roma Gypsies from Romania who have come to Ireland for work. Most of them are employed in short-term contracts doing low-paid jobs such as washing cars and selling newspapers, Parker said. Race-hate crime in south Belfast has increased in the past six months, he said. Polish and Portuguese workers have also been targeted. Violence broke out Monday at an anti-racism rally in support of Romanians in Belfast.
