Family flee racist attack

Nine families have fled their homes in Craigavon following racist attacks

A young Muslim woman and her two children have been forced to flee their home in County Armagh after what appears to be a racist attack.

Their house in Craigavon, near Portadown, came under attack by a stone-throwing gang on Wednesday night.

The woman, who has lived in the area for the past five years, said it was not the first time her family has been attacked.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster, the woman, who does not want to be named, said she was concerned for the safety of her children.

"My eldest son is only four and I have told him that we have had our windows smashed," she said.

I don't want him to grow up to think that these things are normal because they shouldn't be Muslim victim of attack

"He asked me was it the bad boys and I told him that it was.

"He has taken it very well and I find that it is awful that a four-year-old should feel that racial abuse and violence to your house is normal.

"I don't want him to grow up to think that these things are normal because they shouldn't be."

Craigavon Borough Council is to hold a meeting next week with representatives from local ethnic communities in the wake of the attack.

The council says it wants to present a show of solidarity with people who find themselves the target of such attacks.

Earlier this week, a BBC News investigation found that ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland were more than twice as likely to face a racist incident than those in England or Wales.

Police said 226 racial incidents were reported between April 2002 and April 2003, with 185 such attacks in the previous year.

It centres on Craigavon, where Muslims have decided to delay building the province's first mosque, even though they have won planning permission.

Nine other families have fled the borough after suffering racial abuse.

In June 2003, police in south Belfast stepped up security for minority groups in the area following pipe bomb attacks on two homes.

Earlier this year, Northern Ireland's Equality Commission noted that racist attacks in Northern Ireland were running at a higher level than in England and Wales.

They were running at 16.4 per 1,000 of the minority ethnic population compared to 12.6 in England and Wales, said the commission.

It pointed to attacks on the homes of Filipino nurses in Ballymena, County Antrim and offensive leaflets over building plans for a mosque in Portadown, County Armagh.