‘My life is threatened – there is no hope here.’
“It’s not easy to stay here—more for my life and my safety; I can’t try over and over again with the same result.”
Mohammed Idris, who owns Bash café, in south Belfast, says he will not reopen after his business was set alight during violent protests.
Disorder broke out after an anti-immigration protest in the city on Saturday.
Mr Idris has told BBC News NI his businesses have been targeted before, saying his shop on Sandy Row was targeted last year.
“My computer shop was completely damaged just like this café. This café was a hope, a place for a community – there is no hope here now.”
Recounting the night his cafe was attacked he says a group of people “shouted my name, ‘Where is Mohammed?’ , then they smashed all windows on the ground floor.”
However, he told BBC News NI that the worst came overnight when his business was set on fire.
“For me it’s not easy – it is so difficult when they know your name. It’s scary – my life threatened. A group of people coming – shouting my name, just people who came from different areas.”
Mohammed Idris has lived in Belfast since 2002, but says living here has become “more difficult” in recent years.
“We have to make our life here, but now all our friends, everyone is asking ‘where do we go now?’
“We come from different countries – there are wars in our countries – what do we do now?”
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