Racism alive and well in Six Counties

Series of incidents exposes official and unofficial discrimination

A series of incidents over the past week have exposed the 'official' and unofficial racism endemic in the Six Counties.

Attacks against a Chinese family in West Belfast and racist graffiti on the house of a Grenadan woman in Antrim Town reveal the extent of violence directed at ethnic minorities.

But it is the attitude of state bodies that reveals the depth of racism permeating 'officialdom' in the North.

A barrister working for the UN suffered harassment at the hands of immigration officials in Derry as she queued to check in for her flight to London while Immigration officials have refused a South African woman, who is being detained in Hydebank without charge, permission to attend her father's funeral.

Thirty-four-year old Miatta Samba who works for the United Nations, is accusing immigration officers at Derry City airport of "blatant racism", after she was stopped while waiting to board a flight to London on Friday 6 January.

Samba was the only Black person in a queue waiting to check in for the flight to London when she was confronted by immigration officers.

She was not permitted to check but taken for questioning, so missing her flight. The Sierra Leone barrister said immigration officials questioned her about her passport and visas entries from trips to other countries. "They knew I had visited South Africa and the United States and asked what I was doing in these countries."

Her belongings were also searched. "They left me to re-pack my bags and just left me. They didn't care what happened to me after that and I don't know the area. I didn't know where I was."

Samba said she was appaled at her treatment at the hands of immigration officials.

Derry City Sinn Féin Councillor Gerry Mac Lochlainn said that the racist bigotry suffered by Samba was totally unacceptable. Mac Lochlainn, a member of the Derry City Council Airport Committee said he will be raising the matter with the council and the British Immigration Service.

Hydebank detention

In the case of a South African woman held by immigration at Hydebank Young Offenders Centre, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has expressed its concerns with the British Home Office after she was refused permission to attend her father's funeral.

The woman, who has been living in England, was detained on Sunday 8 January after travelling to Belfast to collect personal belongings, before travelling to South Africa.

The 25-year-old is now being held in Hydebank without charge alongside convicted criminals.

Immigration officials turned down several requests for the woman to be allowed to attend the funeral and an application for bail to an immigration tribunal in Belfast on Thursday 12 January was rejected even though there was a surety of £4,000 and a pledge from a guarantor to escort the woman to London to catch a flight to South Africa.

An application for a High Court judicial review into the unnamed woman's detention was adjourned after the judge ruled he needed proof that her father was, indeed, dead.

The North's Human Rights Commission expressed it's concerns with the British Home Office over the "unusual and very humanitarian considerations" of the case

Nathalie Caleyron of the Multicultural Resource Centre said she was disturbed by the refusal to allow the woman to return home.

"This is typical of the culture of suspicion in the British Home Office that they don't believe what people say. This must be shocking for the girl and she must be in a very distressed state. Here we have a case where the woman is being kept tin prison despite wanting to return home".

Caleyron accused the British Home Office using this case as a deterrent to intimidate others.

Antrim Town racism

The woman targeted by loyalist racists in Antrim Town said she will not be intimidated out of her home.

Thirty-four-year-old Alison Antoine awoke on Tuesday morning 11 January to find the words "Die Nigger" daubed on the front of her house in Rathkyle in the Styles Estate in County Antrim. A swastika and "White Power" were also scrawled in black paint on the Housing Executive property.

Antoine, originally from Grenada, said she is sick of the racist abuse directed at her since she moved into the area ten years ago and is afraid to go out of the house unless she has someone with her. "I have been victimised because of my colour and had racist names shouted at me, but nothing like this. I wish they would leave me alone."

In previous attacks a garden shed and kitchen windows were broken by loyalists since she moved into the area.

Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities director Patrick Yu described the attack as one of the worst incident of race hate he had encountered. "Normally they distribute racist leaflets, but this time it is targeting a specific family. It is very serious."

Antrim Sinn Féin Councillor Ann Marie Logue said she is appaled that racist abuse and attacks can still be allowed to happen in this day and age. Logue has called on all political and community leaders in the Antrim area to show proper leadership to prevent racist attacks from being carried out. "There are sectarian and racist elements carrying out these attacks in this area and I am calling on everyone in our society to do all in their power to put an end to racist and sectarian attacks."

West Belfast racist thugs

Sinn Féin West Belfast Councillor Paul Maskey has condemned the campaign of racist attacks directed at the home of a Chinese family in St Agnes Drive, Andersonstown.

The family has been living with racist intimidation since the beginning of December as local youths broke windows, started fires and urinated on their property.

"I have been speaking to the West Belfast Against Racism Network and they are working to reduce the fear the family is faced with, and the local community are rallying round in support," said Maskey.