Racism in Northern Ireland: 'They called our children monkeys'
Mixed-race couple tell of daily abuse they faced for six years in Belfast as
statistics show a sharp rise in racist incidents
Rima and Michael Lynch thought they and their children would be safe from
racial abuse when they moved to a Catholic working-class area close to central
Belfast.
But the mixed-race couple’s experience over six years puts a human face on
the rise of race-hate crimes in the city, beyond Protestant/loyalist areas with
a reputation for xenophobia.
Rima, a Christian-Israeli Arab, has been branded a Roma, Romanian, "Jew whore"
and "dirty Arab" by a family who have subjected her family to a slew of racist
abuse and intimidation.
The Guardian has learned there have been 13 arrests linked to race-hate
attacks in Greater Belfast since the start of last month. But the Lynch family
say the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in south Belfast has failed to
act against local people who have terrorised them in the nationalist Lower
Ormeau area.
