Vehicles set ablaze by protesters burn in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday.Uncredited/The Associated Press
A wave of violent anti-immigration protests in Belfast has renewed concerns about the open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, an issue that has dogged both countries since Britain left the European Union.
On Monday night, Belfast police battled hundreds of protesters who set fire to cars, buses, homes and businesses belonging to people from the Middle East. The violence was in response to an alleged stabbing by an asylum seeker from Sudan who crossed into Northern Ireland unchecked from Ireland.
Groups of masked men went door to door in some neighbourhoods looking for people to attack, forcing police officers to escort some families from their homes.
Anselme Shima told Sky News that he was terrified as smoke from one of the fires poured into his home. “The kids are saying: ‘Daddy, are we okay, are we safe?’” he said.
The stabbing and the ensuing violence have raised questions about the Common Travel Area, a century-old agreement that permits Irish and British citizens to move freely on the island of Ireland. The arrangement means there is no formal border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The lack of a border has been a major bone of contention between the EU and Britain ever since the U.K. left the bloc six years ago. In 2023, both sides reached an agreement that regulates the flow of trade while ensuring the border remains open. Under the arrangement, Northern Ireland effectively continues to follow EU regulations so that goods can move freely back and forth from Ireland, which is an EU member.
Hundreds of anti-immigrant protesters took to the streets of Belfast on Tuesday, with some setting vehicles alight, after police charged a Sudanese man over a knife attack that left one person with serious neck and head wounds.
Reuters
There have been growing concerns that asylum seekers and people smugglers have been exploiting the open border by travelling to Dublin and then moving unchecked into Northern Ireland and other parts of the U.K. In the year ended March 31, 2026, some 7,000 people entered Britain via the CTA and other unspecified routes without authorization and then claimed asylum, according to figures from Britain’s Home Office. That represented 8 per cent of all asylum seekers.
Belfast police confirmed that the alleged knife attacker, Hadi Alodid, made his way from Sudan to Paris and then flew to Dublin. From there he took a bus to Belfast on Feb. 10, 2023, and claimed asylum. “There is no trace of this suspect on any of our national security databases, and he was not known to the Police Service of Northern Ireland,” said Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, who heads the PSNI.
Mr. Alodid, 30, has been charged with attempted murder, possession of a knife in a public place and threatening to kill a National Health Service worker. The Home Office confirmed that Mr. Alodid received refugee status in 2023 and was granted five years leave to remain in the U.K. The victim of the attack, Steven Ogilvie, has lost his left eye and suffered damage to his right eye, along with injuries to his neck and back.
On Tuesday, Gavin Robinson, an MP for Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, called on the government to close “the open, porous border between our country and the Irish Republic.”
Hilary Benn, Britain’s Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said the common travel area was not at fault.
Mr. Benn told reporters Tuesday that police and border service agents from the U.K. and Ireland work closely to tackle illegal migration. “And obviously we will need to reflect on the particular circumstances of this case, but what is at fault here is the person who committed this dreadful attack on Mr. Ogilvie. That is what we need to focus on,” he said.
People assess damaged cars and homes in Belfast on Tuesday.PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images
Claire Hanna, an MP for Northern Ireland’s Social Democratic and Labour Party, rejected calls to tighten the border. “There haven’t been proposals, there [hasn’t] been honesty about the trade-offs, there has been mob justice, and some of the same old, same old proposals for a hardened border on the island of Ireland,” she told the House of Commons Tuesday.
Police in Belfast and other cities across Britain are bracing for more violent protests this week. An extra 200 officers have been called in to patrol the streets of Belfast.
In London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the protests, while other Labour MPs lashed out at U.S. billionaire Elon Musk for encouraging the demonstrators.
“The horrific attack in Belfast last night is sickening,” Mr. Starmer said. “There is no justification for the violence and disorder that we saw threatening our communities, nor for those who encouraged it, online or elsewhere.”
On Monday, Mr. Musk reposted a message on X from far-right activist Tommy Robinson, also known as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who wrote: “The whole of the United Kingdom is hitting the streets tonight at 7pm following yet another invader attack on our people.” Mr. Musk added: “Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!”
During a news conference Tuesday, Chief Constable Boutcher expressed frustration with the online posts.
“Stop looking at this nonsense. Stop listening to these idiots. We will be going after them for the incitement that they’ve been doing.”