A Hong Kong-born politician who champions the causes of ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland has been warned she is under threat of attack.
The Alliance Party's Anna Lo, who has lived in Belfast for nearly 35 years, is the only member of the Northern Ireland Assembly who is from an ethnic minority background.
Yesterday, as Assembly members discussed a spate of racist and sectarian attacks in the North, she revealed she had been warned by police of a threat to attack her.
Ms Lo later said she also knew of threatening letters sent to Polish and Islamic centres in Belfast by loyalist far-right groups threatening to bomb at least one of the premises.
"People from ethnic minority communities are very frightened," she said tonight.
Ms Lo represents the south Belfast area, where a series of attacks on Romanian families forced more than 100 people from their homes, with most eventually leaving Northern Ireland.
It emerged last week that Ms Lo received threats in two letters and two emails, but today she told the Assembly she had now been warned of further threats by police.
"Myself and a large number of ethnic minority people this weekend and today have received serious threats upon our safety," she said.
"I have never seen ethnic minorities so fearful in Northern Ireland."
She appealed for the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to speed up efforts to agree a new Government strategy to tackle racism and sectarianism.
Ms Lo said she had been visited by police and told they had received a threat to attack her home.
She said police were told that a Chinese business, which has been targeted in the past, would also be attacked.
The PSNI said it could not comment on individual cases.
Ms Lo added that at least two groups representing ethnic minorities had received threatening letters in recent days warning that if they did not move out of their premises by July 12, a bomb attack would be launched.
"We need to address racism, hate crimes of all types in our society," she said.
"I have lived here for 35 years. I don't believe that Northern Ireland is a racist society but a small minority can bring us all down in the eyes of the world."
PA