Force criticised over racist terror
More than 100 Romanians have been moved to emergency accommodation in Belfast as police faced criticism over their response to the racist attacks which forced the families to flee.
The UK's Romanian General Consul will hold talks with a minister in the Northern Ireland Executive on Thursday in a bid to end the immigrants' plight.
The Romanians, who spent Tuesday night in a church hall, fled after a racist gang - one allegedly brandishing a gun - targeted homes in the university area of the city.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has joined Stormont ministers in condemning the attacks.
While police will guard the new dwellings around the clock, officers were forced to deny claims they had been slow to answer 999 calls in recent days as tensions grew.
Though the accommodation has been provided for a week, with the possibility of alternative lodgings thereafter, many of the families have vowed to leave Northern Ireland for good.
"We want to go home because right now we are not safe here," said Maria Fechete, a Romanian mother of two. "We want to go back home to Romania, everybody right now does. I want to go home because I have here two kids and I want my kids to be safe."
The families spent Wednesday at an indoor tennis centre near the River Lagan before being bussed to the temporary accommodation.
Area commander superintendent Chris Noble defended the handling of the situation and dampened speculation that loyalist paramilitaries might have been behind the attacks.
"The information that I have at the moment is that there is no co-ordination, there is no authorisation by any other groups," he said. "It's a number of individuals who have taken some form of umbrage for whatever reason to people living in the community and are contributing to the community."
Share
