THE family of Belfast stabbing victim Stephen Ogilvie said they don’t want the attack to be used to “divide people or fuel hostility.”

A wave of racist violence was sparked by the assault in several parts of Northern Ireland on Tuesday evening as masked men set fire to several homes they believed housed immigrants, burned bins and a bus and pelted police with objects.

Mr Ogilvie was left blinded in the left eye but in a statement his family said: “We want to make it perfectly clear that overnight unrest is not welcome and peaceful protest is the only way forward.

“We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system, hospitality sector and we depend on them to make our country work.

“We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility.”

Hadi Alodid appeared in a court today charged with attempted murder.

Alodid, originally from Sudan, did not enter a plea and was ordered held in jail after an appearance by video in Belfast Magistrates’ Court.

He was also charged with possessing a knife and threatening to kill a radiographer while being treated for a hand injury after the assault.

In the Commons today Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the vicious knife attack but slammed Reform UK for trying to exploit the incident, as they had last week exploited the murder of Henry Nowak in Southampton.

He told the far-right party’s deputy leader Richard Tice that Reform “try to whip up fear and division. That’s all they’ve got.”

Independent MP Ayoub Khan also condemned MPs who “seek division to further their political ambitions.”

He warned the Commons that “individuals are fuelling hate against citizens of our own nation and causing hardworking, upstanding people to be afraid for their safety because of the colour of their skin,” a point the premier endorsed.

Sir Keir told MPs “the acts of violence and arson are totally unjustified.

“This morning I spoke with the first minister, the deputy first minister and the chief constable and the secretary of state for Northern Ireland is meeting leaders in Belfast today.

“We are united in calling for calm.”

In a statement earlier in the day, Stormont First Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “The scenes we all saw last night were nothing short of disgraceful.

“None of this is about community. It is thuggery.”

Back in the Commons, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch also condemned the violence but, with one eye on Reform to her right, added: “People have a right to be angry, I am angry, and people have the right to expect their politicians to secure our borders.”

Democratic Unionist Party leader Gavin Robinson also said “people were right to be concerned about the asylum system,” while also denouncing the riots.

Earlier the Prime Minister had warned that “there is no justification for the violence and disorder that we saw threatening our communities, nor for those who encouraged it, online or elsewhere.

“It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it. Those responsible will feel the full force of the law,” he said.

Leader of Your Party Jeremy Corbyn also denounced the racist violence. He accused the far right of “weaponising an appalling attack to whip up hatred against entire communities.”

He added: “When politicians demonise migrants, hatred spreads. When politicians call for ‘pure, cold rage,’ people listen. Their racist bile will not build a single hospital, help a single homeless person or lift a single child out of poverty.”

Green Party leader Zack Polanski blasted the “politicians who fanned these flames” who, he said, should “hang their heads in shame.”

Campaign group Stand Up to Racism said: “As they did with the tragic death of Henry Nowak, the far right are trying to weaponise an appalling attack for their own gain.”

SUTR has called a rally outside Belfast City Hall for Saturday June 13 from 1pm to mobilise opposition to the far right.

The Communist Party of Britain also slammed the horrific knife attack, adding that the “criminal justice process must be allowed to proceed and the perpetrator should face full and proper punishment for this horrific crime.”

But the CP slammed “the usual far right and fascist voices” for seizing on this crime “to stoke racial tensions and call for violence.”

It added: “We must combat and expose everywhere the rise of the far right and fascist groups, and their billionaire backers, who seek to cynically exploit attacks like this as part of their efforts to distract and divide working people and blame minorities for the problems caused by the system itself.”

The leader of Northern Ireland’s SDLP, Claire Hanna, described the attacks as “a race pogrom. She said: “We are seeing men going door to door asking to ‘get the foreigners out’ based exclusively on the colour of their skin.”

Anselme Shima, a Belfast resident originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said: “I’ve lived on my street for almost 10 years, I have a good relationship with my neighbours, but last night was a horrific one.

“We don’t know what to do. I’m scared. Seeing this, I’m wondering if I’m next.”

Protests were encouraged online by far-right activists including Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson.

Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long said social media agitators who “yesterday would have struggled to find Belfast on a map” were “weaponising” the fears of local people.

Last week a separate case of a university student who was stabbed to death in Southampton, England, in December was seized on by activists and US Vice-President JD Vance, who blamed immigration for the violence.

Henry Nowak, who was white, was killed by Vickrum Digwa, a Sikh who falsely claimed to police that he was the victim of a racist assault by Mr Nowak. When police officers arrived, they initially treated the wounded Mr Nowak as a suspect before noticing his injury and trying to resuscitate him.

Mr Digwa was convicted of murder for stabbing Nowak with a Sikh dagger and sentenced last week to life in prison with a minimum 21-year term.

But a protest over Nowak’s death turned violent with some attacking police with chairs and rocks. Several people have since been charged with violent disorder over the protest.