Two days of anti-immigration violence in Northern Ireland is nothing but racist ​thuggery, Britain's minister for the province said on ‌Thursday, after police deployed water cannon to tackle rioters for a second night.

Hilary Benn said there was less disorder on ​the streets of Belfast on Wednesday night as ​opposed to Tuesday, when rioters torched homes and news1vehicles, ⁠targeting ethnic minorities following a knife attack for ​which a Sudanese man has been charged with attempted ​murder.

Many of those who did clash with police on Wednesday were seeking to get to a hotel outside Belfast that has ​been targeted in the past for housing asylum ​seekers.

Asked on Sky News if violent scenes were racist riots rather ‌than ⁠protests he said: "Well, if you are targeting people on the basis of the color of their skin, how else can you describe them? That is racist ​thuggery."
Benn said ​the violence ⁠had caused deep trauma in the province.

"It's really difficult to convey the genuine sense of ​fear there is on the part of ​the ⁠ethnic minority community here in Northern Ireland as they've witnessed these scenes, reports of people being stopped in ⁠their ​cars to be asked what ​their nationality is, nurses going to work. This is appalling."

-Reuters