Residents fear 'what's next?' after racist graffiti

People living in a building where racist graffiti was sprayed are "now terrified" and fear "what's next", a community advocate has said.

Police are investigating recent anti-social behaviour in the Alfred Street area of Belfast and, in the latest incident, graffiti containing a racially offensive slur was sprayed on a wall inside the Bass Buildings.

Ana Chandran from the Belfast Asian Women's Academy said the graffiti was "not just a racial slur, it was also a death threat".

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the incident is being treated as a racially-motivated hate crime.

CSMNI Property Management, which manages the Bass Buildings, said it condemns all anti-social behaviour and the recent acts of intimidation directed at residents.

"All racist or offensive graffiti has been removed, and every external access point has been fully secured," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"The management team is implementing enhanced security measures in an effort to ensure the safety, security, and peace of mind of all residents."

The MP for South Belfast, Claire Hanna, said is "absolutely appalled" by this incident.

"We are not having a conversation about immigration as some people claim, this is a crisis of race hate."

The SDLP leader said no one should be "frightened to be in their home".

Hanna criticised the NI Executive for failing to put in place a cohesive strategy to tackle race hate.

Residents have encountered young people in the corridors outside their homes and told BBC News NI that on several instants the doors to their apartments have been hit and kicked.

The PSNI said it received a report on Saturday afternoon of "criminal damage to an internal wall in a residential building" on Alfred Street.

"It's understood that a group of youths entered the complex, causing damage to bins and sprayed graffiti on a wall.

"This is being treated as a racially-motivated hate crime and enquiries are on-going.

"We will continue to work alongside partner agencies, local representatives and the community to find collaborative and proactive solutions to address the problem."

Chandran said racism has "always been an issue in Northern Ireland".

"I've been doing this work over seven years and for the last five years I've always received racism cases from members of my community, every year there's something.

"I was hoping that in 2026 something will change."

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme on Monday, Chandran said the graffiti was "absolutely shocking".

"It's sad that we are losing are freedoms slowly, we can't even speak our own language when we are outside and we have to be careful - looking over our shoulder," Chandran said.

"I can't believe it has come to this stage."

On Sunday, Annu Keshy, who is one of the residents of Bass Buildings told BBC News NI when she goes outside she does not speak her own language.

"I only speak in English. I'm not myself. I'm more aware," she said.

A victims' organisation has said racist behaviour among young people is the responsibility of all society and should be tackled as such.

Jolena Flett of Victim Support NI said that, in many cases, young people are responding to the rhetoric they hear about immigration when engaging in such behaviour.

She also said that when major racist incidents occur - such as rioting last year - there is a big effort to address the problem, but this needs to be case the rest of the time.