A group of nurses who were driven out of their neighborhood in County Antrim due to racist attacks found themselves living in a disused hospital building with their young children. Eight families left the Ballycraigy estate after enduring several racist attacks including anti-immigrant posters taped to their windows and car windows being smashed. Three of the families, all with temporary visas, lived in the disused building at Whiteabbey Hospital in Newtownabbey for several weeks before finding alternative accommodation. In the basic accommodation, a console and games were present as evidence that families with children had been forced to live there.
When the nurses initially fled their rented properties on the estate, some turned to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) for emergency support. The NIHE informed them that their temporary visas precluded them from access to public funds and emergency accommodation. However, when the BBC Spotlight Program reached out to the Home Office, they were informed that people on temporary visas were eligible for emergency support if their circumstances changed. The NIHE commented that it is not authorized to provide immigration advice, but it does completely denounce the attacks on the families and is prepared to play its part in confronting racial hatred.
Takura Makoni, a policy officer at the African and Caribbean Support Network, was one of those who sought to support the nurses. He was also the target of racist graffiti earlier in the year and moved his residence. Makoni commented that if the nursing workforce made up of foreign nationals left the country, the individuals throwing bricks would not find work in nursing. The Northern Trust Chief Executive Jennifer Welsh described incidents of racial abuse and threatening behavior against health service staff as “deeply distressing” and reassured her support for these workers in the program.
It is still too scary for their families to speak openly, and the program has spoken to the families off-camera. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) stated that it could not offer immigration advice. Its position was to evaluate eligibility for housing and homelessness assistance, he added
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