THEY were stoned, menaced by gunmen and faced the threat of a child's throat being cut.
The Romanians of Belfast – forced to flee their homes in the wake of racist attacks that shocked Britain – were temporarily rehoused by the government last night.
After a night of fear triggered by the racist threats and intimidation, the 114
men, women and children who had been forced to seek refuge in a church witnessed the warmer side of their adopted home, as politicians from across the political spectrum, led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, offered support and children sent cards with words of comfort.
Last night the families were settling into accommodation at Queen's University, where they are expected to stay for at least a week while officials discuss their options.
While police will guard the new dwellings around the clock, officers were last night forced to reject claims they had been slow to answer 999 calls in recent days as tensions grew.
However, many of those caught up in the violence have now vowed to leave Northern Ireland.
A mother of two, who only wanted to be known by her first name of Maria, said everyone was now adamant they wanted to return to Romania. She said attacks had been intensifying over the past two weeks but came to a head on Tuesday night with racists breaking into her house and threatening her and her children.
Others spoke of men armed with guns telling them to leave the country or face being shot. "We want to go home because right now we are not safe here," said Maria.
Couaccu Siluis, who spent the night in the church hall with his family, said he came to Northern Ireland eight months ago in search of a better life but found it impossible to get work. In broken English, he explained that he was too frightened to return to his home but had no money to go back to Romania.
He said: "We are not going back to our house. It is not safe. They made signs like they wanted to cut my brother's baby's throat. They said they wanted to kill us. We are very scared. We have young children. Possibly we could go back to Romania, but we have no money."
More than 100 Romanian nationals spent Tuesday night in the City Church, near Queen's University, after fleeing their homes in the Lisburn Road area in the south of the city.
Simmering racial tensions in the area have erupted over recent days, culminating in an attack on a rally in support of the east European migrants on Monday night. Youths hurled bottles and made Nazi salutes at those taking part in the anti-racism demonstration. There were reports that some were involved with the racist group Combat 18, but yesterday the Police Service of Northern Ireland rejected the speculation and other reports that loyalist paramilitaries may have been behind the attacks.
Superintendent Chris Noble said: "The information that I have is that there is no co-ordination, there is no authorisation by any other groups. It's a number of individuals who have taken some form of umbrage for whatever reason to people living in the community and contributing to the community."
The consensus among politicians was that the attacks were racist rather than sectarian. One member of the Northern Ireland Assembly said: "It's too simplistic to say they are white European Catholics. This is racism."
Northern Ireland deputy first minister Martin McGuinness, junior minister Jeffrey Donaldson and health minister Michael McGimpsey visited families taking refuge at a leisure centre yesterday.
A leading UDA figure in South Belfast, Jackie McDonald, was prevented from entering by police, but nevertheless said he utterly condemned the targeting of the families.
SECTARIANISM REPLACED BY ETHNIC CLEANSINGETHNIC cleansing is taking place in Northern Ireland, according to a support group for minority families.
Patrick Yu said yesterday that large parts of south Belfast are in danger of becoming no-go areas after the Romanian families were forced out.
The issue of race in Northern Ireland is flaring up just as the issue of religion has eased. Immigration to Northern Ireland has increased, but so have racist incidents.
Last year there were 771 racist crimes in Northern Ireland, which mainly involved criminal damage or assault – fewer than the number of sectarian incidents but still on the rise.
Poles were forced to flee when violence erupted at a Northern Ireland and Poland football game, while Chinese people in Belfast, some with local ties going back generations, have also been targeted.
Mr Yu, executive director of the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities, said: "It is all about the territory issue. We know this is their agenda – ethnic cleansing of all minorities from the Village (an area of south Belfast]."
