NORTHERN Ireland's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, pushed the creation of an anti-intimidation unit up the agenda last night. He welcomed a report on paramilitary "exiles" by a House of Commons select committee. The Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee confirmed that 1,600 people had been forcibly "relocated" between 1995 and 2000, despite the mainstream republican and loyalist ceasefires.
In a statement Mr Trimble welcomed the report's exposure of this "barbaric practice". He warned of the danger of descent into gangsterism unless the "illegitimate writ of the paramilitary groups is undermined".
Mr Trimble said he was "particularly struck" by the idea of an anti-intimidation unit to "give the victims a voice in public debate and provide more joined-up services both in Northern Ireland and in Great Britain". He promised to explore the proposal's feasibility.
One of the report's authors, Labour MP Mr Harry Barnes, said it was "high time that people on the run from the Provos and the loyalists were allowed to return home in safety".
He said expulsions were now mainly "green-on-green and orange-on-orange" and were "part of a package of paramilitary repression to systematically coerce people into recognising the paramilitary presence as the de facto authority".