Last weekend, a bungalow specially designed for a nine-year-old disabled boy was one of two new-build properties damaged in what police said was a “sectarian-motivated hate crime”.
And News NI has learned that other African families in the area have had their properties attacked.
Caroline, also not her real name, her husband and two children moved to Northern Ireland from Africa two years ago.
She first noticed anti-immigration posters six weeks ago.
“My eldest came to me and said: ‘Mummy, do you know what’s happening? I saw posters there saying: “No immigrants’. Do they mean us?’,” she added.
Although she is trying to protect her children, Caroline said they understand what is happening.
Caroline, who is a healthcare worker, said that when she woke on Monday, her house, and four others on the street, were spray-painted with a black X.
This prompted her to start packing up her belongings.
“I didn’t even have anywhere to go,” she said.
After their neighbour’s car was smashed, the family decided to vacate their property.
Caroline said it was “quite a hard decision” to make, but the family “just couldn’t sleep another night in that house”.
“We’re too scared to be here,” she added.
