International healthcare professionals in Northern Ireland are questioning whether they should remain after a knife attack and subsequent disorder left some fearing for their safety, with the health minister acknowledging the damage to the region's standing.

Nurse Chinonso Uche, who moved from Nigeria around five years ago, stated she was considering leaving. She said she had bought a home and hoped to stay but had been attacked multiple times on her way home from work. "This last bit was the last for me," she said on Friday. Dr Mukesh Chugh, a doctor in Derry for more than two decades, reported that colleagues from overseas were now questioning their decision to come, with some having their homes and cars damaged.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said the unrest had been a stain on the region's reputation locally, nationally and internationally. He warned that without international workers the health service would collapse, but added he understood if they chose to leave over safety concerns. Speaking after meeting staff at the Mater Hospital, he described how young nurses had to navigate barricades and rioters near Carlisle Circus to reach work. He also visited a Ballyclare advisory body for ethnic minority healthcare workers where windows had been smashed.

The violence began after Stephen Ogilvie was stabbed in north Belfast on Monday evening, June 8. Sudanese asylum seeker Hadi Alodid (30) has been charged with attempted murder, possessing a bladed article, and threatening to kill a female NHS radiographer. He was remanded in custody following a court appearance where police said he had told officers "I killed someone, I don't know if they are dead". The victim lost an eye and sustained severe damage to the other.

Public disorder then spread over subsequent nights, with crowds attacking police, burning vehicles, and setting homes on fire. More than 20 people have been arrested. Belfast Magistrates' Court heard that 42-year-old Dwayne Burton danced on a Land Rover roof and incited others to riot, while 18-year-old Ryan Fowles was part of a crowd that threw a petrol bomb into a police vehicle, setting an officer on fire before discarding a face covering in Belfast Lough. Anti-immigration protester Steven Baker (45) was remanded after being observed via police drone at disorder in Glengormley. Three other men, aged 37, 26 and 21, were also held over violence across north, east and south Belfast.

On Friday, police released images of a man they wish to speak to regarding serious public disorder in Newtownabbey on June 9 and urged the public to help identify him. Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson pledged justice for those affected by the disorder, racially-motivated attacks and hate-filled social media posts.

On Saturday, thousands gathered in Belfast for an anti-racism rally.