Anti-immigration riots erupt in Belfast after knife attack

Anti-immigration protests have erupted in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after a knife attack allegedly carried out by a Sudanese refugee, plunging the area into tension.

On Tuesday evening, hundreds of protesters, many wearing masks, blocked roads and set fire to cars and homes, forcing residents to evacuate. Michelle O'Neill, Northern Ireland's First Minister, described the riots as "nothing short of disgusting cowardice." She posted on X: "Racism, threats, and violence are wrong wherever they occur."

The 30-year-old suspect in the attack, whose identity has not been disclosed, has been charged with attempted murder, possession of a bladed weapon in a public place, and making death threats. On Monday, he repeatedly stabbed a man in his 40s in the head and neck. Northern Ireland Police Chief Jon Boutcher said the suspect entered the UK in 2023 via Paris and Dublin. The UK Home Office confirmed he is a Sudanese refugee with valid residency until 2028.

The latest wave of violence comes amid heightened tensions across the UK, with populist parties accusing refugee policies of allowing dangerous individuals into the country. Violent clashes erupted last week in Southampton, southern England, over police handling of the murder of a young white student by a British Sikh man. On Tuesday, dozens of protesters also gathered outside a hotel housing asylum seekers near Southampton, carrying signs reading "not racism, just patriotism" and "enough."

Rise in racist attacks in Northern Ireland

Immigration has become a hot-button issue in the UK and has fueled the rise of the far-right Reform UK party in recent local elections. Last year, anti-immigration riots broke out in Northern Ireland after anger over a sexual assault involving two minors allegedly of foreign origin. The flashpoint was Ballymena, where protesters targeted homes housing immigrants.

Britain was also rocked by violence in July 2024 after three young girls were fatally stabbed near Liverpool by a 17-year-old British-born teen, the son of Rwandan refugees. He pleaded guilty to murder and received a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years. In November last year, Amnesty International described the preceding 12 months as "a shameful year of hate" in Northern Ireland. Police recorded 2,048 racist incidents and 1,280 racial hate crimes, among the highest since records began in 2004. Four of the five months with the highest recorded hate crime levels occurred between June and September 2025.

Michael Kerr, professor of conflict studies at King's College London, said that while the number of rioters is relatively small, the consequences can be severe. "A small but determined far-right minority can create fear very quickly, especially when targeting already small, vulnerable communities," Kerr told Al Jazeera. "This is not an expression of widespread democratic grievance; it is racist intimidation aimed at people with very little power."

Far-right stoking tensions

Anti-immigration figures, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe, have demanded disclosure of the attacker's immigration status. Gavin Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, called on authorities to curb "uncontrolled immigration." Boutcher said the suspect had no prior record with Northern Ireland police, suggesting no serious criminal history. Police urged people not to share the stabbing video, but many social media accounts linked to so-called "patriots" continue to circulate footage, calling on people to "protest mass immigration into their communities."

US tech billionaire Elon Musk reshared a post by anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson, saying: "Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!" The stabbing in Southampton last week, allegedly by a British Sikh man, was exploited by US Vice President JD Vance, who blamed "self-hating politics and mass immigration invasion" for the violence. UK government officials noted the Southampton attacker was not an immigrant and accused Vance of trying to "interfere in our democracy and seeking to stoke division on our streets." The Sikh community has since reported racial abuse and hate speech, though Mark Nowak, the grieving father of the victim, warned against using his son's death to create "division, hate, or further tension."

Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long said Wednesday that those behind the violent acts are "weaponizing genuine pain, concern, and anger" among the public and blamed far-right agitators online. "There are bad actors in the UK and beyond who probably before yesterday would have struggled to find Belfast on a map... deliberately encouraging people onto the streets," she told BBC Breakfast. "That is the absolute definition of racism." Kerr said the amplification of anti-immigration material on platforms like X has helped create a climate where incidents can quickly become politicized and used to stoke anger. "That doesn't mean all participants are formally organized by the far-right, but the ideological framework is clearly being shaped by that broader ecosystem," he said.

Legacy of the Troubles

Evi Chatzipanagiotidou, lecturer in anthropology at Queen's University Belfast, said Tuesday's violence also relates to the Troubles, the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland from the 1960s to the late 1990s. The 1998 peace deal, known as the Good Friday Agreement, led to power-sharing pacts between major parties of Nationalists (seeking a united Ireland) and Unionists (wanting to remain in the UK). The riots occurred in areas affected by long-term poverty, unemployment, and marginalization. Chatzipanagiotidou said: "The link between the riots and [far-right] paramilitary groups is not established, but the young people who participate in these riots would be prime recruitment targets for such groups," adding that "local historical processes and ideologies converge with global far-right politics."

She added that in the anti-immigration narrative, the border with Ireland is blamed as a corridor for immigrants, reviving tensions over national identity between Catholic and nationalist communities, who strongly identify as Irish and support a united Ireland, and Protestant and unionist communities, who identify as British and want to remain in the UK. Kerr also pointed to political divisions within the power-sharing executive as another danger. Without political unity, "the far-right can use these incidents to drive a wedge between parties, communities, and the police," he said. "If this continues, it will become a major policing challenge in Northern Ireland and could spark wider unrest across the UK."