THE North West Migrants Forum has watched with horror what has unfolded in Ballymena over the last two nights.

Our thoughts are with the families targeted in what the PSNI has rightly described as “racial thuggery”. Having to barricade yourself into your home while a baying mob screams for blood outside is something no one should have to go through, not in this society or any other.

Racism being dressed up as ‘protecting women and children’ is not new – we have seen the same tactic used time and again across this island in recent years. Anyone who believes the violence in Ballymena is driven by anything other than racial hatred should ask themselves this – where are the protests when Irish citizens are accused or convicted of sexual crimes?

According to latest police statistics, there were approximately 4,090 sexual offences recorded in Northern Ireland between 2023 and 2024.

Between 2019 and 2024, a total of 30 women and girls were killed by men in Northern Ireland.

The facts speak for themselves – Northern Ireland, per head of population, is one of the most dangerous places in Europe to be a woman.

To use that as a cover to burn homes, torch cars and attack the PSNI is an affront to those who have lost loved ones to femicide and the countless women left scarred by the scourge of sexual violence on this island.