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Filipino families flee Northern Irish home after night of anti-immigrant violence
ReutersUpdated Fri, 13 June 2025 at 2:39 PM SGT4-min read
BALLYMENA, Northern Ireland (Reuters) -Michael Sancio, a resident of the Northern Irish town of Ballymena, said he was woken at midnight on Tuesday by masked men banging loudly on windows.
Sancio, his wife and daughter, and a couple who share their house - all originally from the Philippines - grabbed their passports and a few belongings and fled their home, sleeping at a friend's house on Tuesday night. They said they plan to stay further outside the town on Wednesday because they feel unsafe at home.
Hundreds of masked rioters attacked police and set homes and cars on fire in the town of 30,000 people for a second successive night on Tuesday. Police are investigating the damaging of property as racially-motivated "hate crimes".