NO USE UK, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Lower thirds:

00:05 Report by / Melissa Kent
00:23 Brian Anderson / Reverend, East Belfast Mission
00:46 Anselme Shima / Belfast resident originally from DR Congo
01:32 Hilary Benn / Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Script:

Police in Belfast rush people to safety

As homes and cars are set on fire

By anti-immigration protesters in Northern Ireland 

Many of them were young people 

Clad in black with their faces covered

They even attacked a bus - 

+++ Reverend Brian Anderson, East Belfast Mission: +++
"I saw, particularly in these two streets, just violence upon violence. I think I could use the word anarchy. It took us back certainly to the times in the troubles.''

ANSELME SHIMA is from THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - and has been living in Northern Ireland since 2013

+++ Anselme Shima - Belfast resident originally from DR Congo: +++
''I'm afraid maybe I might be the next to be attacked on the street. So I don't know where to take my family, my children, who is 9 years old, who are asking me every question that crosses his mind. And I don't know how to answer him.''
  
The riots started after video of a knife attack in Belfast - circulated online

The victim - seen here being helped by passers-by - was taken to hospital with serious injuries  

The suspect - is a 30 year old Sudanese man who applied for asylum after entering Northern Ireland in 2023 

Irish officials say emergency crews responded to dozens of separate incidents of arson and disorder across Belfast:

+++ Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland: +++
"Nothing, nothing can justify the violence that we saw on the streets of Northern Ireland last night with masked thugs trying to burn and intimidate people out of their homes. Those organizing these protests claimed they're doing so to protect communities. In fact, they're doing the very opposite."

The knife attack in Belfast is already triggering other protests in the UK.

In London - demonstrators at a far-right rally 

Chant SEND THEM HOME - protests were also reported in Glasgow.

They come on the heels of violence in Southampton last week - after police were criticized for handcuffing a dying white man who had been stabbed by a British Sikh man.

END