LONDON — More than 100 Romanians in Northern Ireland were left scrambling for shelter Wednesday after being driven from their homes in a spate of racist violence that has shocked a region still nursing the wounds of decades of sectarian conflict.
Officials and community leaders in Belfast, Northern Ireland’s capital, condemned the attacks, whose targets were ethnic Roma, or Gypsies, a minority group that has been subject to discrimination and mistreatment across Europe. No injuries were reported. Among the displaced was a 5-day-old baby.
Gangs of youths in south Belfast began taunting and threatening the immigrants last weekend. The families grabbed what belongings they could and fled after the harassment escalated into rock- and bottle- throwing that shattered windows, terrorized residents and even targeted a counter-demonstration against racism Monday.
On Wednesday, they were bused to a recreation center after spending the night in a church hall. Small children clutched their parents’ hands as city officials and social workers scrambled to find emergency housing for them.
“It really does shake your humanity to look at all of that and to think that there are people within our society who are prepared to inflict all of this on defenseless babies and their parents,” Martin McGuinness, the deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, said after visiting the families.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also condemned the attacks, which come amid increased violence against Roma throughout Europe, especially countries in the east, such as Hungary and the Czech Republic as economies flounder, joblessness rises and residents look for scapegoats.
Like other parts of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland has seen the number of newcomers grow significantly as Eastern Europeans exercise their right to move across borders within the EU.
Reports of racially motivated and nationalistic hate crimes have risen in a society already scarred by political and religious turmoil.
