Hi °C | Lo °C Four Hungarian women have been forced from their south Belfast home in a racially motivated attack.
The women were forced to hide under a kitchen table after a gang smashed windows and forced their way into their home in the Donegall Road area last night.
The women were unhurt, but badly shaken by the attack.
A police spokesman said that they were treating the incident as a hate crime. A 21-year-old man was arrested following the attack.
Seanin Brennan, who is a friend of one of the women, said: “They have come to Northern Ireland because they wanted to find better jobs than in their native country. They have come here thinking we are European and part of the European Union.
“It is despicable and disgusting that anyone in Northern Ireland would treat another human being like this.”
John Sharrett, who tried to help the women after the attack, said a large crowd of young men gathered outside the house to intimidate them.
“There were 30 fellas staring threateningly just to make sure these poor people left. Thirty fellas baying for blood,” he said.
Local Councillor Christopher Stalford said he was saddened after the women indicated they would not be returning to the area.
“All four ladies were working and making a contribution to our society, as a lot of people who come here from beyond our shores are doing. It is very sad what has happened,” he said.
“There are a lot of people who have come to Northern Ireland for a new life, to make a contribution to our society, to work here and gain employment here. For anyone to be treated this way who has come to Northern Ireland to make a new life is very sad.”
South Belfast Assembly member Carmel Hanna described the attack as “a reprehensible hate crime”.
“I have often said that race crime is the other side of the coin of sectarianism,” she said.
This just the latest attack on foreign residents in and around south Belfast in recent weeks.
Around 40 Polish families have been forced to flee parts of the city after violence erupted between rival fans before and after a football fixture last month.
