Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is The Guardian. Today, under siege in Belfast, the immigrant community is fearing for their lives. On Tuesday evening, Samaya and Stella, two housemates from Uganda, were at home in West Belfast when they heard some noise outside.
They were in their house and basically they saw some of the violence beginning.
The women are care workers, but they're also students. Samaya is studying adult health at a local college and Stella is doing an MBA at Ulster University. They told their story to Guardian reporter Hannah Alothman.
They said there were a group of men and boys.
So it all started like people were just matching young boys between the age of 9 and 20.
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Chapter 2: What sparked the anti-immigrant riots in Belfast?
They were all putting on black and masks.
They were all dressed in dark clothing. They had face coverings. And they noticed them start to gather near their flat. And they initially hoped it would pass over fairly peacefully.
They knew what the protest was about. It was prompted by a horrific knife attack in the city on Monday, which saw the victim lose an eye. A Sudanese refugee had been arrested, and there was fear of riots after videos of the attack spread around the world. But still, Stella and Samaya were hoping that the men and boys outside their window weren't going to kick off.
And then they then began to start trying to set fire to a bus. So they set fire to the tires of a bus and they were watching from inside the house.
And then they collected the beans outside and then started also burning them. And then we were like, maybe it will not escalate.
They were still watching and hoping, well, you know, maybe this is as bad as it'll get. But then they said around seven o'clock, they saw them approaching their house.
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Chapter 3: What did Samaya and Stella witness during the riots?
Stella.
Stella.
Stella. Samaya's actually sent me some video.
Oh, my God, they've started breaking houses. They've started breaking houses. Like at around 7.38, that is when they started petrol-booming the houses.
They could see sort of flames from the neighbouring houses, sort of licking up towards theirs.
So when the smoke started, it was just coming direct to our houses. So we called the police, we called the fire brigade.
And then, you know, their house started being targeted. They started throwing bricks. I think they said stones or bricks or rocks at the window.
breaking all the windows of the house. So the police kept us, telling us, like, don't come down. We know you can hear the breaking of the glasses. The smoke was too much in the house.
So they had this mob outside attacking their home. They had smoke coming in through the letterbox, through the gaps in the door, and they were told, don't leave, it's not safe for you to leave. Samaya actually passed out. She was so scared.
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Chapter 4: How did the violence escalate outside their home?
And you could see, and then eventually these men barged the door in and got into the house.
And as I understand it, that Romanian family was ultimately taken to safety by a neighbour who, But why would the rioters go to a house of a Romanian family when the guy who'd been arrested on suspicion of murder is a Sudanese national?
They were targeting any immigrant families. It was Ugandan families. It was Sudanese families. It was Romanian families. It was Ukrainian families. So, you know, that was happening there. And then we sort of moved across the city and then there were wheelie bins set on fire, street furniture. So the police obviously put up these big plastic roadblocks. They set fire to them.
There were men walking around with sort of bottles of petrol in their hands. And then we got to East Belfast. And then that was where the bus was on fire. More homes had been set on fire there. Another Romanian family, a Sudanese family, the fire brigade were there trying to bring those fires under control.
The police had got into those houses and sort of evacuated people, but just all across Belfast. So we covered sort of west, north and east.
It sounds really frightening. What do we know about the people who were rioting?
My understanding is that it was mostly loyalists, so people from the Protestant side. Some of them were wearing the colours, so things like Northern Ireland football shirts or Rangers. And again, it was in predominantly loyalist areas. They all seemed to know each other. We were told by some people living there that some of the Catholics had come to join in. We saw some of that online.
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We heard at the start of the episode from Stella and Samaya about how their street came under attack on Tuesday night. Houses were set on fire, their windows were smashed. Samaya passed out, terrified at the angry mob outside. And when the women called 999, they were told to put on their care uniforms in the hope that if any of the rioters broke in, they might show them some mercy.
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Chapter 5: What was the response from the police during the riots?
And he got them into his car with him and his wife and took them to his house and put them up.
And so you met Stella, Samira and Pastor McGee the next day at their church, the New Life City Church in Belfast. How were they the morning after?
I think they were still quite shell-shocked. They were still in the clothes from the night before. So, you know, they said, this is what we'd left our home and we've got nothing. You know, Samaya said what had happened had changed her whole view of Belfast. And how has your experience of Belfast been so far until now?
been okay like i really understand maybe there is that ratio differences but i hadn't gotten into such like i managed them just like any other person in a new country you expect all that but then you you have the positivity in you like everyone stays in their own lane to me it was a very peaceful place until yesterday like It really changed my mind.
And she said they hadn't told family back home. So she said they wouldn't believe this would happen in what she described as a first world country, the United Kingdom. She said that her family just wouldn't believe it.
We are not illegal migrants. We are not. We are here legally. We got visas. We paid money to come here. I am really dedicated to serving the community. That is it. And someone who is actually rioting doesn't know that... The person they are targeting is actually looking after their mother or their granny. Meanwhile, I left my mother back home.
Yeah, so I'm just not happy. She said, I'm potentially caring for their mum, for their granny, and I've left my own mother at home in Uganda to do that. And, you know, she said, maybe it's high time I go home.
Just, like, I felt like maybe I'm just giving up, like... Maybe Tai Tai might go home.
Clearly there were pockets of bravery and kindness. People like Pastor Jack McGee going in to rescue people like these women. And sort of beyond him, what was Belfast like on Wednesday? What was the atmosphere like? What were people telling you?
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