'Racist' attack on homes

antrim | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Tuesday August 03, 2004 10:35

by brenners

Loyalist paramilitaries step up their racist campaign of intimidation.

Police in County Antrim say they are treating weekend attacks on the homes of two care workers as racially motivated. Two houses in Tobar Park, Cullybackey, were attacked early on Saturday, but details were only released on Monday. In the first incident, at about 0120 BST, windows were broken at the home of a South African woman and her four-year-old son. Another house, where an Indian family were due to move in, was also targeted. No one was injured in the attacks, which police have described as cowardly. Sma Ndaba, whose husband is in South Africa on business, said she heard the brick crashing through her living room window. However, because the family have never had any trouble in the year since they moved into the area, she did not think it was her home that was being attacked. Mrs Ndaba said the local community had been very supportive following the attack. "My neighbours have been very good and I am very proud of the Cullybackey community, they have been supportive," she said. "Even the ones that live a bit further from me were coming to me and comforting me. "They were saying they would not allow this to happen in their community. I am sure it is just a minority who are not accepting of me, because the community has been really supportive to me." In the second incident, the window of another house in the area was also broken. An Indian woman who works at the same care home as Mrs Ndaba was due to move into the house with her family on Monday. Inspector Peter Wylie condemned the attack. "These victims work locally in healthcare and are well respected in the area, their contribution to this community contrast sharply with the cowards who attacked them," he said. He also appealed for anyone with information about the attack to contact the police. SDLP councillor Seamus Laverty said he was outraged by the attacks, which he called "heartless and senseless". "The racist bigots who carried out these attacks do not represent the broader community in Ballymena," he said. DUP councillor Tommy Nicholl said he was disgusted by the attack. "If I can appeal to whoever, and I understand that there are only about two or three involved, can I say please stop and realise what you are doing to the village of which you are part of," he said. Sinn Fein assembly member Philip McGuigan urged unionist politicians to join forces with others in the community in standing up to those behind sectarian and racist crime. "These attacks are unacceptable and must end," he said. Last week, police in Belfast urged ethnic minorities in the south of the city to be vigilant following a spate of racist attacks. There have been 89 incidents in the area so far this year ranging from verbal abuse and graffiti to physical attacks on people and their homes, according to the police.