Carl Whyte, a councillor for the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), has lived in Belfast for most of his life, but says the scenes last night were "completely alien to me".

He says the rioters "are not interested in the immigration debate" and instead "cause chaos and bring violence to the streets".

"It's absolutely ridiculous we have this hard far-right element, a minority, in Belfast, a city that has welcomed immigrant communities for decades - it's a city built on immigration," Whyte tells BBC Radio 5 Live.

The councillor adds he understands the "fear, hurt, anxiety and terror" but warned those involved in the riots to "wise up" as the police "are going to come after you".

Image source, PA Media

John Campbell
BBC News NI economics and business editor

Compared to most UK regions, Northern Ireland has a relatively small number of ethnic minorities and migrants.

The 2021 census found that just under 97% of the population was ethnically white, down from more than 98% in 2011.

Belfast was the most diverse area but was still more than 90% white.

There was very little migration to NI before the enlargement of the EU in 2004, which saw significant numbers of people arrive from Poland and Lithuania.

Net migration peaked in 2007 at just under 10,000.

Since the post-Brexit changes to UK government policy, migration from the EU to NI has almost stopped and instead there has been increased migration from African and Asian countries, particularly India.

Immigration, asylum and visas are not under the control of the devolved government at Stormont. They are reserved matters, which means they fall under the remit of the UK government at Westminster.

Hayley Halpin
BBC News NI

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Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party Jon Burrows and leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Claire Hanna have been speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme about last night's events.

Burrows was on the Newtownards Road in east Belfast last night. He says he was threatened while trying to intervene when people attempted to “harass” a news crew.

“These were mostly children less than 16, faces covered and believing that their patriotic duty was to go and set fire to a Glider bus, to try and find homes that were linked to immigrants. Those scenes were absolutely horrendous,” he says.

He says he “condemns utterly” that behaviour, adding that “it has no part to play in our society”.

“It is not part of any legitimate conversation on migration.”

He says it's important that today every parent in those areas know where their children are, “especially as we get towards the evening”.

“Make sure they’re not out on the streets and make sure they’re inside their homes.”

Hanna says she is “heartbroken” and “absolutely furious” this morning at “so much insane, rancid racism and destruction on the streets”.

“It looks like a complete orgy of violence and hatred and many dozens of people now have no bed to sleep in.”

She says those out last night were “egged on by their own deep prejudice”, the reaction to the video from north Belfast and “an online ecosystem that will move on now, while Belfast picks up the pieces and so many lives have been ruined and while so much public property has been destroyed”.

Image source, PA Media

Kelly Bonner
BBC News NI

Last night on the Lower Newtownards Road in Belfast hundreds of masked men walked down the street carrying bottles, bricks and masonry.

They set bins on fire and shouted "foreigners out".

As they walked street to street, they were banging on doors, kicking doors down and breaking windows.

Masked man set cars alight and at one point I witnessed them trying to burn a car until a woman came out of her home and told them it belonged to a "local and not a foreigner" and they stopped.

A young family had to be moved from their home by police.

The scenes of this young family fleeing their home were really quite shocking.

Paul Doherty, an independent councillor from west Belfast, has been supporting a family who were forced out of their home "by a mob" who set fire to the property on Tuesday night.

Doherty said the family included four children, who were "traumatised".

He said a local charity helped to get them somewhere safe to stay, while other people offered "help with clothing, with blankets, with ongoing support".

Speaking to the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme, Doherty says "homes were attacked, businesses targeted, livelihoods lost, and many innocent families terrorised last because of their colour of skin or where they come from".

He called on political representatives to proactively help prevent further disorder.

"Words are not good enough anymore... people need to be out knocking doors today and talking people down."

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Homes and cars burned, communities targeted

• Violence has broken out in Belfast overnight after Sudanese man, 30, was arrested over an alleged knife attack in the north of the city on Monday. He is due to appear in a Belfast court today charged with attempted murder

• Homes, cars and a bus were set on fire. A pastor at the scene where multiple houses were on fire around Crumlin Road in north Belfast said people were being put out of houses "because they're black".
• In another scene, about 100 masked men made their way down a street and kicked in doors and broke windows. They said they were "getting the foreigners out"
• A police car was also set alight in Portadown and a Turkish barber shop was attacked in Ballyclare
• The fire service attended 62 incidents, mostly in the Greater Belfast area

• The violence followed the knife attack in north Belfast. Video circulating online shows a number of people, including one wielding a hurling stick, confronting the apparent attacker until the police arrived

Leaders react

• The chaos has been broadly condemned, with Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill saying, "groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice"
• This morning Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long blamed far-right online agitators for stoking racial tension following Tuesday's knife attack, describing their actions as "despicable"

Rt Revd David McClay, from the Church of Ireland, says the "violent scenes on the streets of east Belfast last night should be condemned by all right-thinking people".

"Those who choose to damage local communities, putting people of all ages at risk and especially the most vulnerable, do not speak for the majority in our society," the Bishop of Down and Dromore says.

"I also condemn in the strongest possible terms the horrific attack on a young man on the previous evening and all such attacks, and pray for his recovery."

He adds: "We pray for blessing and peace to be visited upon our streets."

Immigration solicitor Paul Gulbenkian says the British Government would have had "no right" to deport the suspected attacker if he demonstrated his asylum claim was well-founded.

Police have confirmed the suspect crossed the Irish border in February 2023 having flown to Dublin from Paris. He then claimed asylum upon arrival and in September 2023 was granted leave to remain in the UK until 2028.

Asked whether Northern Irish authorities would have been able to send the suspect back to the Republic before he was granted leave to remain, Gulbenkian tells BBC Breakfast: "If he had a legitimate claim, which from the decision it seems as he did, then there will be no right to send him back or do anything with him other than allow him to remain."

Sara Girvin
BBC News Ireland Correspondent, reporting from Belfast

It’s very much the morning after the night before in east Belfast.

The wreckage of a bus set on fire last night is still smouldering as cars try their best to manoeuvre around it.

Further along the Newtownards Road, cars and houses lie like shells.

The smell of burnt wood and plastic lies thick in the air and people's belongings, turned to ash, lay strewed everywhere.

It is apocalyptic.

Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long has blamed far-right online agitators for stoking racial tension following Tuesday's knife attack.

"There have been bad faith actors in the UK and further afield who probably would've struggled before yesterday to find Belfast on a map... who were deliberately encouraging people to take to the streets, deliberately weaponising the pain and anguish of an injured man and a frightened community... that is a despicable thing to do," she tells BBC Breakfast.

"We saw the rush to social media yesterday from commentators on the far-right who were clearly trying to stoke racial tension, building on a narrative that they have around immigration."

Long says comments by pastor Jack McKee, who said people were being targeted just because they were black, were accurate, adding that it is clear that because the alleged perpetrator was of Sudanese origin, rioters were using that to attack others on the basis of their skin colour.

"That is the absolute definition of racism," she says.

Sara Girvin
BBC News Ireland Correspondent, reporting from Belfast

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What happened here last night was everything the authorities did not want.

Policing and political leaders stood side by side, very deliberately in a show of unity, calling for calm heads, calling for peaceful protests.

That did not happen.

Instead, this morning we have a massive clear up operation, there’s a lot of disruption.

This morning there will be people who simply do not know if it’s going to be safe for them to return to their homes.

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The overnight violence that broke out in Belfast in response to a knife attack has been met with blanket condemnation by Northern Irish leaders, with First Minister Michelle O’Neill labelling the disorder "outright thuggery".

“Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice," O'Neill has said.

Echoing O'Neill's message, Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said: “Taking frustration at the evil actions of a person out on those who had no part in it is utterly wrong.”

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the overnight chaos was "only damaging communities and putting innocent lives at risk".

“There is no justification at all for this type of destruction and thuggery," Benn added.

Claire Hanna, Belfast MP and leader of the Social Democratic & Labour Party, has spoken to Newsnight about the "nightmarish" attack on Monday, which she says has "understandably revulsed and shocked" people in Belfast.

However, she condemned the scenes that erupted on Tuesday afternoon, suggesting that "negative actors online and politicians locally who don't really care what communities in north Belfast have been through" have used the knife attack to incite violence and seed division.

"What you're seeing is a race-based pogrom. We are seeing men going door to door asking to get the foreigners out based exclusively on the colour of their skin," she has said.

"It's not based on what they're contributing to society, what their status here is and it's terrifying for people in Belfast who want this sort of politics to be far beyond them."

Multiple people were forced to flee their homes in north Belfast on Tuesday evening, after the properties were set alight amid the outbreak of violence.

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The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service says it had a "busy evening" on Tuesday, managing 256 calls between 19:00 and midnight.

The fire service attended 62 incidents, with the majority in the Greater Belfast Area.

"We would like to recognise our personnel for their professionalism during a challenging period, and extend our appreciation to the community for their support in assisting our response," their statement read.

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A 30-year-old Sudanese man is due to appear in Belfast Magistrates’ Court later today, following a knife attack in north Belfast on Monday night.

He has been in police custody overnight after being charged with attempted murder, possession of an article with blade or point in a public place and threats to kill.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has called for calm as "sporadic pockets of disorder" broke out across Northern Ireland on Tuesday in response to the attack. Houses, cars, bins and a bus were set on fire, and people were forced to flee their homes.

A man in his 40s remains in hospital with serious injuries to his eyes, neck and back after the knife attack at 22:30 on Monday evening.

Following the unrest on Tuesday, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said "there is no justification at all for this type of destruction and thuggery".

First Minister Michelle O'Neill called it "outright thuggery".

We are now resuming our live coverage in Belfast, so stay with us as we bring you the latest developments.

People have been forced to flee their homes in Belfast amid disorder following a knife attack.

Houses and cars have been set on fire and all public transport has been been paused in the city.

A 30-year-old Sudanese man is due to appear in court on Wednesday charged with attempted murder following the attack in north Belfast on Monday night.

He has also been charged with possession of an article with blade in a public place and threats to kill.

A man in his 40s remains in hospital with serious injuries to his eyes, neck and back after the attack in Kinnaird Avenue at about 22:30 BST.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have called for calm as "sporadic pockets of disorder" have broken out across Northern Ireland in response to the attack.

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said that "there is no justification at all for this type of destruction and thuggery".

You can catch up on all the latest developments here.

It's been a night of violent scenes in Northern Ireland.

Protests started after a Sudanese man was charged with attempted murder over a knife attack in Belfast on Monday night in which the victim was left with serious eye, face and back injuries.

Here's a round-up of what you need to know from tonight:

• A bus was set on fire on the Newtownards Road in east Belfast, and homes also caught fire nearby, with a family being rescued from a house by emergency services
• Several homes on and near the Crumlin Road in the north of the city were also on fire tonight, with a pastor at the scene saying people were being put out of houses "because they're black"
• Cars were set on fire in Newtownabbey, a police car set alight in Portadown and a Turkish barber shop attacked in Ballyclare
• There were also peaceful protests in others areas including Antrim, Ballymena, Londonderry, Larne and Bangor, as well as protests in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Southampton elsewhere in the UK
• Politicians condemned the violent scenes and called for calm, with First Minister Michelle O'Neill describing the violence as "outright thuggery" and Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn saying there was no justification
• The 30-year-old charged over the attack is due to appear in court on Wednesday morning