The MFA says that all Romanians who were affected by the Belfast protests have been temporarily relocated
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) reported on Thursday that all Romanians who asked for help after the violent protests in Northern Ireland “received support from the local police or some relatives or friends”. The institution also announces that the victims have been temporarily relocated.
The Romanians who were the victims of the violent incidents in Belfast are “currently safe”, after being temporarily relocated “either by the care of the local authorities, in specially arranged accommodation spaces, or at the residences of known persons”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announces, quoted by Agerpres.
The Romanian Ministry reminds that the Romanian Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Laura Popescu, is in “permanent” contact with the Consulate in Edinburgh and the Honorary Consul in Belfast and the Minister of State for Northern Ireland in the London Government, regarding the presence of Romanian citizens in the affected areas.
“In order to provide consular assistance to Romanian citizens, steps were taken at the level of the Romanian Embassy in London, including through the office of the attaché for internal affairs, which is in contact with the authorities on the line of internal affairs, as well as at the level of the Consulate General of Romania in Edinburgh, in whose constituency Northern Ireland is located”, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
How many people asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for support following the protests in Belfast
So far, 21 people from Northern Ireland have requested consular assistance from the Romanian authorities for the issuance of travel documents, in the context of the recent violence in Belfast, inform sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), quoted by Agerpres.
According to the respective sources, there are 20 Romanian citizens – 13 adults and seven children – and one foreign citizen, namely four families, three people who are relatives and a couple.
The homes of three Romanian families were vandalized in the context of the violence in Belfast on Tuesday night, the MAE informed on Wednesday. One of these families was relocated with the help of relatives.
About 20,000 Romanians live in Northern Ireland.
Hundreds of protesters, many with their faces covered, attacked police and set fire to vehicles in the Northern Irish capital Belfast on Tuesday night in a wave of anti-migrant violence that followed a knife attack by a Sudanese refugee, Reuters and AFP reported.
