Anti-immigration signs spark hate crime probes in Northern Ireland

United Kingdom police are investigating a potential hate crime after anti-immigration signs were posted throughout Belfast, Northern Ireland. Signage in the area declares that the community “will no longer accept the re-housing of illegal immigrants.” 

This is the second investigation into similar signage in Northern Ireland’s capital city this month. Political leaders condemn the signs but express concerns about housing in the area, leading to “resentment and anger.” 

Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris encourages elected officials to help temper rhetoric as a measure against an increase in anti-immigrant extremism.

“We need to, as a society, have a proper debate about migration, immigration, what we need in skills, and how we treat people and what pressures it brings to our domestic services,” Heaton-Harris said. “These need to be articulated by mainstream politicians because if we don’t articulate them, then we do leave a vacuum for other people who might not be as benign as we are.” 

It comes in the wake of riots in Dublin after an Algerian naturalized Irish citizen was accused of stabbing three children and a caretaker outside a Dublin Catholic primary school last week. Social media commentators incorrectly identified the alleged assailant as an undocumented immigrant, leading anti-immigration rioters to set fire to Dublin’s city center. 

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said she is looking to meet with social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, concerning its response to riots in Dublin.

The minister has said that Gardai — the Irish national police — had “actively engaged” with the social media companies on the day of the riots in Dublin, which saw vehicles set alight and shops looted. Tens of millions of damage to public infrastructure has been done in disorder involving 500 people, according to Irish police estimates.

Days before the riot, hundreds of people gathered in Rosslare, Ireland, to oppose plans to convert a second hotel into refugee accommodations. Ireland saw a nearly 900% increase in refugees last year.