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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent

‘Everyone is scared’: vigilantes ignite race hate fears on streets of Belfast

Akram poses in a blue and white shirt outside the building.
Kashif Akram outside the Belfast Islamic Centre, which was attacked in June. Akram said: ‘This all stems from one thing, which is hate.’ Photograph: Rory Carroll/The Guardian

Each evening after sunset the vigilantes gather near CS Lewis Square to rove the streets with a sense of swagger and a grandiose title: Belfast Nightwatch First Division.

The group, typically numbering a dozen members, seeks out dark-skinned males and challenges them to produce identity documents and explanations for their presence in the east of the city.

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