Community organisations and volunteers have been assisting families targeted in racist attacks across Belfast since Tuesday. Groups including Anaka Women’s Collective, Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR), and the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) worked with trade unions, churches, and local residents to move people to safety.

On Tuesday evening, organisers responded to more than a dozen requests for help from areas such as Tiger’s Bay, Ainsworth, the Shankill, Ligoneil, Musgrave, and Lendrick Street. They evacuated 12 families, sometimes with assistance from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Some families stayed with relatives or friends, while others were placed in hotels. Roadblocks and ongoing protests complicated the relocations.

In Tiger’s Bay, at least five families sought help. Organisers reported that the PSNI was unable to provide support, so two volunteers helped three families leave through the rear of their homes and then drove them to police stations to report incidents. A similar pattern was observed across the city, with families telling volunteers they had repeatedly contacted police and waited hours for assistance. In Oakley Street, volunteers saw police leave as a family was being burnt out; seven fire engines later attended the scene.

By Wednesday, safe locations had been established across Belfast, and a network of volunteers was ready to transport families from threatened areas. Requests came from people whose addresses had been circulated online, while others who stayed in their homes needed food, medicine, and practical support. By Thursday, more than 300 volunteers were supporting around 200 people across the centres. While official figures say 27 people have been made homeless, the organisations believe the true number is much higher.

Neither the Department for Communities nor the Housing Executive has issued public communications to victims or contacted the groups assisting them. Displaced families now face reassessment by the Housing Executive after the Minister scrapped the intimidation points system in January 2025, which had previously enabled rapid rehousing.

The attacks have been concentrated in loyalist areas of the city. Reports indicate paramilitary actors were involved in organising and inciting violence. Addresses of targeted properties were circulated online, and there were calls for rioters to hide their identities and for CCTV cameras to be turned off. The violence followed the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie and other recent high-profile incidents which were used as a pretext by those seeking to carry out attacks.