London - A group of about 20 Romanian families has sought refuge in a church in Belfast after sustained racist attacks on their homes in the Northern Ireland capital, the authorities said Wednesday.

The migrants, including many children and a five-day-old baby, slept on the church floor after being "too scared" to stay in their homes in south Belfast following the attacks, social workers said.

They were moved to a leisure centre Wednesday morning while new emergency housing is being found. The homes where they had been staying had been attacked for almost a week, including having bricks thrown through windows.

Bernie Kelly, from Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, said it had been a very traumatic experience for the families. "The whole thing has escalated very quickly," she said.

Local politician Anna Lo said the group was moved to the church in a police bus late Tuesday as 115 people were crowded into a single house.

The BBC reported that there have been suspicions that a loyalist paramilitary group is involved in the violence, but this has been denied.

"In many ways, racism is the new sectarianism in Northern Ireland," a BBC correspondent said.(dpa)