Volunteer networks have moved approximately 200 people to safety across Belfast this week following a series of racist attacks on homes, according to community organisations coordinating the response.

On Tuesday evening, a small group of volunteers from Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR), Anaka Women’s Collective, and the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) began responding to calls for help from families in areas including Tiger’s Bay, Ainsworth, the Shankill, Ligoneil, Musgrave, and Lendrick Street. They assisted 12 families in moving to safety, either directly or with PSNI support.

In Tiger’s Bay, at least five families sought assistance. Two women helped three families leave through the backs of their houses after PSNI officers were unavailable to provide support. The families were then taken to police stations to report the incidents.

A pattern repeated across the city in which families contacted the PSNI multiple times and waited hours for assistance. On Oakley Street, organisers witnessed PSNI leaving the scene as a family was burnt out; seven fire engines later attended the blaze.

By Wednesday, community groups had established safe locations and a network of volunteers willing to transport people from threatened areas. Requests came from individuals whose home addresses had been circulated online, while others who stayed in their homes needed food, medicine, and other practical support.

By Thursday, more than 300 volunteers were supporting an estimated 200 people at these centres. The Department for Communities and the Housing Executive have not issued public communications aimed at victims or contacted organisations supporting those displaced.

Displaced families will face reassessment by the Housing Executive after the previous system of intimidation points, which enabled rapid rehousing, was scrapped by the minister in January 2025.

The violence included attacks concentrated in loyalist areas, the presence of paramilitary leaders at attack sites, large-scale release of home addresses online, and calls for rioters to conceal their identity and disable CCTV cameras. The Irish News has reported paramilitary involvement in organising and inciting the violence.

Belfast City Council received £600,000 from the UK Government following the August 2024 riots to reduce the risk of further disorder and promote community cohesion. Scrutiny of the effectiveness of that fund is expected in the aftermath of this week’s attacks.