Northern Ireland loyalists turn to race violence

[Aidoneus]

Northern Ireland loyalists turn to race violence
By Steve James
6 February 2004

A series of racial attacks in Northern Ireland point to organised efforts by Ulster loyalist paramilitaries to purge Protestant areas of non-whites.

During three decades of conflict between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the British government, very little was heard about conditions facing the tiny number of people who were members of an ethnic minority group in Northern Ireland. A 1995 report counted the entire minority population of the province at a mere 8,270, consisting mainly of Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis and Irish travellers, out of a total population of 1.697 million people.

Most of these groups have lived in Northern Ireland for decades. The Chinese population, for example, mostly arrived in the early 1960s in search of work. Some Vietnamese “boat people” arrived in the 1970s. Many Indian families moved to Belfast in the 1920s and 1930s, hoping to flee communal violence generated by British rule in India. More arrived immediately following India’s partition in 1947. A small Jewish community has existed for decades, although its numbers declined during “the Troubles.”

Since the IRA ceasefire and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, small numbers of asylum seekers, overseas students, tourists and foreign workers have visited and attempted to settle in the province. A 2002 report, prepared for the Northern Ireland Executive, estimated that around 2,000 asylum seekers were temporarily resident. Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of the population—99 percent—remains white.

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EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/feb2004/irel-f06.shtml

[truthspeaker]

1. only white people have the right to steal land from the Irish!