A racist road sign mocking the plight of desperate migrants has appeared in a loyalist village in Co Tyrone.
The offensive sign, which has been placed on the outskirts of Moygashel, carries the callous message “no illegal immigrants for 1 mile” along with an image of a small boat full of people.
The sign was placed close to a loyalist arch in the village, which is also decked in loyalist flags.
This is believed to be a reference to refugees and migrants who regularly use a range of flimsy vessels, including rubber dinghies, to cross the English Channel between France and Britain.
The dangerous crossing has claimed the lives of more than 200 people over recent years.
The appearance of the sign comes as the number of race-hate attacks has rocketed across the north.
Just last month, far right mobs went on the rampage across parts of Belfast with police saying there was a “paramilitary element” to some of the violence.
The trouble erupted just days after false social media claims were made about the murder of three children in Southport, England, including suggestions the suspect was a refugee.
SDLP councillor Malachy Quinn branded the racist sign “disgusting”.
”We know exactly what message they are trying to send in a place like Dungannon, that is very multi-cultural,” he said.
“We have people from all over Europe and beyond that live in Dungannon, work in Dungannon and contribute to the community at all levels in Dungannon.
“And here we have people thinking they can tell people where they can and cannot go, and it’s absolutely disgusting.”
It is understood PSNI officers removed the offending sign from the roadside on Monday afternoon.
Located near Dungannon, Moygashel has a history of racist and religious intolerance.
In November last year, a sign appearing to threaten a group of estate agents not to lease or sell property to “foreign nationals” appeared in the village.
One sign was placed in front of a house that had its windows smashed and graffiti sprayed on the walls.
In 2014, a message was painted warning landlords not to rent properties to “foreign nationals”.
Another sign displayed in the area that year stated: “It is not racist to protect your own community.”
In December 2019, a couple and their young children were forced to flee their home after an oil tank and shed were set ablaze in the back yard of their property in the Jacksonville Road area.
A year later, images dismissing the Black Lives Matter movement appeared in the village.
The poster showed a UDR member kneeling down while pointing a rifle along with the with the words “how real men take a knee”.
The poster appeared after global outrage at the death of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis when a white police officer held a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
In the aftermath many people, including sporting stars, adopted the gesture of dropping to one knee during protests.
In July last year, an image of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and a tricolour were placed on top of a loyalist bonfire in the village, while a replica PSNI car was given the same treatment this year.
Images glorifying the UVF and sectarian killer Wesley Somerville, who blew himself up during an attack on the Miami Showband in 1975, have also been hung from lampposts in the district in the past while the nationalist controlled Mid Ulster District Council has also been singled out.
