22 September 2005 Edition

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Unionist attacks take racist turn

The homes of three migrant worker and their families in Portadown, County Armagh have been targeted by unionist paramilitaries in petrol-bomb attacks.

The houses at Craigwell Avenue are close to the unionist Corcrain Estate.

Craigavon Sinn Féin Councillor Brian McKeown said those to blame were clearly intent on causing serious injury to the occupants.

The houses now occupied by the migrant workers are at a notorious interface in the Portadown area and nationalist families who once occupied them were driven out after constant sectarian attacks.

A second racist petrol-bomb attack was carried out in Portadown on Saturday 17 September. The device was thrown at the front of the house on the Armagh Road at around 6am. Two Portuguese men and one Polish man were in the property at the time but were not hurt.

Meanwhile, several members of Belfast's Filipino community were considering their futures after being caught up in the recent unionist violence. One Filipina nurse was left traumatised after the bus on which she was travelling home from work was attacked by a mob. She said she is considering her family's options.

Another couple said they were going to look for some place peaceful to live after being stranded for two hours as unionists blocked roads in the city.


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