Minority Communities in Northern Ireland Face Ongoing Fear Amid Rising Race Hate Crimes
Minority groups in Northern Ireland are experiencing continuous fear as race hate crimes persistently increase, according to a campaigner.
Tura Arutura, representing the African Arts Collective, commented following the release of new data from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), which indicates that race hate crimes have reached their highest recorded levels since 2004.
Over the past year, police documented more than 1,500 racist hate crimes alongside an additional 2,367 race-related incidents.
Racist rioting in Ballymena during the summer of 2025 significantly impacted these figures, with 348 incidents recorded amid the unrest.
Reports of racist incidents have remained elevated since that period, with the months from June 2025 to March 2026 accounting for eight of the ten highest monthly totals of race incidents on record.
"It's not just a summer thing - it is constant," Arutura told Good Morning Ulster.
"People of colour, minoritized people are living in perpetual fear, always looking behind your back."
Arutura highlighted recent online abuse targeted at an Irish-born woman of Somalian descent who won a pageant in Dublin.
"If you go online, you will see the kind of barrages that are happening to people of colour," he said.
"The girl who became a Dublin Rose of Tralee. You see the hatred that is going to her. My social media is off the scale."
He has urged for increased investment in housing, healthcare, and education.
"Hospitals and the clinics are housed predominantly by people from other parts of the world," he said.
"We need to actually educate people on why it is important to look after our ethnic minority communities."
Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland director of Amnesty International, described the current state of race hate crime in Northern Ireland as a crisis.
"If you look at the graph charting this problem over the last 10, 20 years, the last few years saw just an absolute massive spike in racist violence, racist hate crimes," he said.
"And it's not going to come down unless we see better response from the PSNI and much more effective political leadership from the executive office."
What do the figures show?
The data from the PSNI reveals a significant and sustained increase in race hate crimes and incidents, with the highest recorded levels since 2004. The period of unrest in Ballymena during summer 2025 notably contributed to the surge in incidents, but elevated reports have persisted well beyond that time.
What is the NI Executive doing?
The Northern Ireland Executive has initiated a 12-week public consultation on a new Draft Framework for Race Relations and Delivery Plan.
This framework is intended to succeed the 2015–2025 equality strategy, which was criticized for lacking clear direction and adequate funding.
The focus of the new framework is to address systemic racial inequalities, promote inclusion, and foster a diverse society.
The consultation period is open until 3 June.
