A group of suspected anti-migrant vigilantes stormed two cars, forcing their drivers to flee in what authorities are investigating as another possibly racially motivated hate crime, the British newspaper The Guardian reported on Wednesday, September 10.

Video footage shared on social media and posted by The Guardian showed a group of men wearing masks and hoodies surrounding in what appears to be a navy-colored car at Connswater retail park.

Some men were throwing things at the car, and others were heard shouting racist slurs and threats. Another video clip showed men taunting the driver of a red car. The driver appeared to be male and a person of color.

According to police, there were no reports of injuries, but one driver was said to have left his vehicle in fear while the other managed to drive off.

Before the attack on the motorists, a crowd had been protesting the prosecution of a man charged with inciting hatred. It is unclear whether the attackers participated in the protest.  

Anti-migrant protests  

Authorities are investigating the incident as an ongoing vigilante campaign targeting migrants. Since anti-migrant riots erupted last July -- sparked by the killing of three schoolgirls in Southport, which was erroneously blamed on an asylum seeker -- reports suggest violence against foreigners and people of color has also escalated in Northern Ireland.

In July, an effigy of a boat containing life-sized mannequins wearing life jackets was set on fire in the small village of Moygashel, located in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Below the effigy, there were two signs. One read 'stop the boats' and another read 'veterans before refugees.' Political and religious leaders condemned the incident as racist and threatening.

In June, protesters clashed with police in Ballymena, northwest of the city of Belfast, after it was reported that two teenage boys allegedly attempted to rape a young girl. The two suspects, it was later reported, came from the Roma community. By then, however, public anger aimed against all foreigners had spread.

Protesters were reportedly stockpiling missiles, attacking properties, and building barricades. Security forces came under "sustained attack" with petrol bombs, fireworks, and bricks all thrown at them. At least 15 officers were injured, and some of their vehicles were set on fire.

Ballymena, a town of approximately 30,000 people, is reportedly grappling with poverty and social exclusion.

The same month, local Irish media reported that in the Donegall Pass area of south Belfast, the local police reported receiving "multiple reports" of young people throwing bottles, cans, and water balloons at members of ethnic minorities and other targets.

In response to the spate of disorder and racist violence, counter-protesters gathered at Belfast City Hall to show solidarity with migrant workers and refugees.

Community 'defenders'

Meanwhile, last month The Guardian also reported that in towns across County Antrim, families who are mostly from Africa and working in the healthcare sector had their windows smashed and cars burned.

The Guardian reported that a group of anti-migrant vigilantes who call themselves the Belfast Nightwatch First Division position themselves as defenders of women and children, and have been harassing dark-skinned men to produce identity documents.

The Detail, a non-profit investigative news outlet based in Belfast, obtained police data on those arrested for racially motivated disorder last year through a freedom of information request. The findings indicate that almost half of those who were arrested for race hate disorder in Belfast last summer had previously been reported to police for domestic abuse. 

Migrant hunters 

Incidents of violence and intimidation aimed at migrants, asylum seekers, and ethnic minority groups have been documented all across Europe. These self-styled protective forces are comprised of loosely organized groups that call themselves 'citizen patrols' or 'migrant hunters'. They patrol borders, track down foreigners, and asylum seekers. In some cases, people who work with or aid asylum seekers, such as humanitarian workers, are also targeted and branded as "traitors".

Research by the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) -- an EU-funded network of social workers, teachers, and healthcare professionals who work with individuals vulnerable to radicalization or already radicalized --  sounded the alarm on what it refers to as the "growing internationalization" of right-wing extremism, its online spread, and attempts to normalize hateful narratives targeting migrants and asylum seekers.

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