Timorese targeted by racists

Five men from East Timor escaped serious injury when an attempt was made to set fire to their house in Dungannon, County Tyrone, in a racist attack.

Scorch damage was caused to the front living room and two front windows were smashed at around 3.30am on Monday 7 June. The five Timorese, who were in the house at the time, managed to escape.

This latest racist incident came two days after a Ukranian man suffered serious head injuries after he was assaulted by loyalists in Ballymena, County Antrim, at around 2.30am on Saturday 4 June.

The man was walking along the Galgorm Road with a group of fellow Ukrainians when they were confronted by loyalists, who had been at a nearby bonfire site at Grace Hill. The loyalists pushed into the group and a scuffle broke out, during which the victim was shoved to the ground and savagely beaten. His friends managed to get him to hospital, where he was treated for severe head injuries.

Anti-Racism Network spokesman Steven Alexander described the assault as appalling. "Sadly this is not the first time that Ballymena has been in the news for attacks on ethnic minorities, and only recently members of an ethnic minority in the town were almost burned out of their home," he said.

Alexander called on the authorities to take action to end these blatantly racist attacks in the Antrim Town.