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We are appalled by the racist violence that has been taking place in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, in the last few days, and wanted to express our solidarity with Roma communities.

The violence and racist hate speech against the Roma community is further evidence of the impact of the current political narratives of division and hate. However, it is also the latest act in a long history of discrimination that Roma people face. Roma people are historically among the most discriminated against groups in Europe.

This is both systemic – Amnesty has found that Roma people are discriminated against in terms of access to housing, employment and education, and are often prevented from obtaining citizenship – and in the kind of personal attacks that we have seen in Ballymena. This discrimination stretches back a very long time, including during the Holocaust, when more than half a million Roma people were murdered in concentration camps.

Big Life has a long and proud history of working with Roma people. Many Roma people sell The Big Issue across the North, working hard to earn an income. We have recently launched a fresh campaign to correct some of the myths surrounding vendors, including those based on anti-Roma discrimination, which you can find out more about here.

Big Life has been working directly with Roma communities for more than 15 years. In 2010/11, we delivered a Roma Community Cohesion project, building greater understanding between the Roma community and other residents in the Longsight and Gorton areas of Manchester, where Roma families had settled.

This project championed the experience of Roma people and worked with them to identify practical routes to build understanding across communities. You can read the evaluation of that work here.

Work such as this is vital and makes a real difference. The events of the last few days are a reminder that not only does this work to build understanding have a long way to go, but the politics of division also mean that more work is needed than ever.

We will never stop fighting inequity and discrimination; that’s our mission, and it’s what makes us who we are. We cannot sit back and watch when a marginalised group is experiencing the kind of hatred and violence seen in Northern Ireland, and stand in solidarity with Roma people in Northern Ireland around the world.