Moygashel, United Kingdom - July 10, 2025 A loyalist bonfire featuring lifesize effigies of refugees engulfed in flames has sparked outrage and is being investigated by police as a hate incident. Video shared by X user The Ulster Bulwark shows the fire consuming a model refugee boat, surrounded by a cheering crowd in the village of Moygashel, County Tyrone. The vessel contained a dozen dark-skinned mannequins dressed in lifejackets. Placards beneath the boat read “stop the boats” and “veterans before refugees.” An Ireland flag was also set alight in the blaze. The Police Service of Northern Ireland had issued a statement hours before the bonfire was lit, confirming they were investigating it as a hate incident. Earlier in the week, politicians had called the display racist and demanded the effigies be removed or the entire bonfire dismantled. Another bonfire in Belfast, one of around 300 across Northern Ireland, is due to be lit Friday night. It has raised safety concerns as it is built on a site containing asbestos and is near an electricity substation serving two hospitals. Environment Minister Andrew Muir urged the public to stay away. Images of the Moygashel blaze have drawn fresh condemnation, especially after anti-immigrant riots in Ballymena last month. Patrick Corrigan of Amnesty International said, “It is shameful that the authorities allowed this despicable display of hate to go ahead.” Sinn Féin’s Colm Gildernew described the effigies as “abhorrent” and said those responsible must be held accountable. Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt called the image “sickening, deplorable and entirely out of step with what is supposed to be a cultural celebration.” Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson defended the display, calling it a combination of “artistic protest” and “cultural celebration.”