Determined Never To Go Away

Conor Coyle writes:

Some of the children and young people who took to the streets during racist disorder in Belfast last week were there to clear debts for drugs and loans to paramilitaries, according to the Commissioner for Children and Young People.

Chris Quinn told the Irish News he was on the ground during the race hate disorder in Glengormley last Wednesday, and said he was made aware of one young person who had been encouraged to riot to clear a debt of £500.

Trouble flared last week after a man in his 40s suffered serious injuries to his face, neck and back in a frenzied knife attack in a nationalist area of north Belfast.

A 30-year-old Sudanese man, Hadi Alodid, has been charged with attempted murder and possessing a bladed article in public.

During subsequent violence, immigrant families were forced to flee their homes in loyalist areas after they were set alight by race-hate mobs.

Figures from the PSNI this week show that of the 35 arrests it has made in connection with the race hate disorder, 10 were children aged 16 and under, with the youngest of those aged just 12.

“I was down in Glengormley last week, I live very close to where that was happening and I was checking on elderly friends and young families,” Mr Quinn said.

“We have been informed by reliable people working with these young people, that some of those were brought there to clear debts. “I heard an account of one young person who was told to go and partake in this, and it would wipe £500 off their debt.

“Those debts could be drug debts, they could be loans. These things have been happening for a long time, children and young people getting coerced and groomed by criminal gangs and sometimes taking the rap.

“We know where your mummy lives, we know where your house is, your mum owes such and such money, you need to get down there and partake in this.

“I think it’s really clear that this has been orchestrated.”

While the PSNI says it has “no evidence” that the violence had been coordinated by loyalist paramilitaries, there have been reports of senior paramilitaries present on the streets during last week’s disorder.

Mr Quinn said it was clear that there had been coordination and that the riots were not sporadic, but added that coercion of children and young people into criminal acts is not solely confined to those on the loyalist side.

“We know in east Belfast there were paramilitaries on the streets and what I saw with my eyes was masked people, young people and lots of not so young people,” he said.

“It looked to me like there was instructions being given, and in Glengormley at a certain time, everyone was stood down. It was like a switch was clicked. Everyone started jumping in their cars and disappearing. No one involved in that violence was from the area.

“I’m mindful of putting myself in danger and my family in danger, because we are talking about very dangerous people.

“It’s vile. It’s almost like we’re on repeat, we’re seeing time and time again that children are being coerced. We saw in Derry this past few years, shocking pictures of very young children with petrol bombs in their hands. Someone has given that child a petrol bomb, someone has told them how to make a petrol bomb.

“It’s happening over and over again, and it’s child abuse.”

On Wednesday, SDLP leader Claire Hanna said there had been a “failure” on the part of the UK government to tackle paramilitary gangs and that that had contributed to the disorder seen in the north last week.

“Loyalist paramilitaries were involved in the racism fuelled disorder that we saw on the streets of Northern Ireland last week,” Ms Hanna said.

“These shadowy figures remain in the background, getting young people to do their bidding, risking a criminal record and diminished future prospects, while they skulk off into the night.

“There has been a failure to get a grip on paramilitarism. We haven’t dealt with issues around flags, murals and organised crime legislation and these groups are still allowed to prey on communities. Some seem determined never to go away.

“We need to see a full review of the funding given to paramilitary linked groups, enhanced organised crime focus and a commitment to tackle those inciting hatred both on and offline so that people, of whatever background or ethnicity, no longer have to live in fear from these groups.”