More than 500 racist incidents recorded in month riots erupted
By Jonathan McCambridge, Press Association
More than 500 racist incidents were recorded by police in the month when race riots broke out in parts of Northern Ireland.
The number of race hate incidents and crimes recorded by police in the region have risen to their highest level since records began.
A new PSNI report said that in the 12 months from July 1st 2025 to June 30th 2026, there were 2,561 race incidents and 1,615 crimes.
Amnesty International said racist hate crime in Northern Ireland has “broken all the wrong records”.
Amnesty has called on the Stormont Executive to treat tackling racism as an “urgent political priority”.
The new report from police said there were more race, sectarian, disability and faith/religion incidents in the recording period when compared with the previous 12 months.
The report said: “There were 503 more race incidents and 268 more race crimes recorded.
“The number of both race incidents (2,561) and race crimes (1,615) are the highest 12-month levels recorded since the data series began in 2004/05.
“Eight of the 10 highest monthly levels of race incidents in the data series were recorded between July 2025 and June 2026.
“The 512 race incidents recorded in June 2026 was the highest monthly level in the data series.”
Violence flared in several areas in Northern Ireland in June after a graphic video clip emerged of a man being stabbed in north Belfast.
The disorder following the stabbing saw masked mobs set fire to homes, cars and a bus, with people targeted based on their race.
Foreign national healthcare workers were also subjected to threats and intimidation.
Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland director, said: “These figures confirm that racist hate crime in Northern Ireland has not just risen, it has broken all the wrong records.
“Every victim recorded in these statistics deserved protection, support and justice.
“For years, minoritised communities and human rights groups have warned that an absence of effective state action was leading to an escalation in racist violence.
“Those warnings were not acted upon. The events of June 2026 exposed a serious breakdown in the state’s fundamental obligation to guarantee public safety and protect vulnerable families from organised attack.”
We cannot allow racist harassment and violence to become a normalised feature of life in Northern Ireland.
Corrigan added: “As recent polling from More in Common has shown, most people in Northern Ireland detest violence and racism.
“We cannot allow racist harassment and violence to become a normalised feature of life in Northern Ireland.
“The Executive must now treat tackling racism as an urgent political priority.
“This requires the delivery of a comprehensive anti-racism strategy, long overdue reform of hate crime laws and clear, unified leadership from political figures to challenge anti-migrant narratives.”
