Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey at the scene of the fire at the Belfast Multicultural Association last week (Sinn Fein/PA)
The building was being used as a food bank, with volunteers distributing packages to vulnerable people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ms Hargey told the Stormont Assembly her priority was to get the association back in the building as soon as possible.
She said she was working with Belfast City Council to find a temporary home for the association and its work. She said the council had offered the use of the Waterfront Hall.
“With this attack there’s obviously been a rise in fears within the community,” the minister told MLAs.
Belfast Multi-Cultural Association: £60k raised after arson attack
Published
image captionThe roof of the building in Donegall Pass was very badly damaged by fire
Volunteers from a multi-cultural centre that was set on fire in a suspected hate crime attack are hoping to repair and reopen it thanks to overwhelming donations.
The suspected arson attack badly damaged the roof of Belfast Multi-Cultural Association in Donegall Pass.
Supporters have since raised more than £60,000.
Muhammed Atif from the association said the support gave them confidence to keep going after a series of attacks. We are very grateful for the people who help us, we are very grateful for the messages we have been receiving, he told BBC News NI.
Revulsion over Belfast racist attack 18 January, 2021 01:00
In Belfast almost 15 years ago, a wide-ranging conference on racism considered suggestions by a number of leading European publications, including Der Spiegal of Germany and The Guardian of England, that the city had become the continent s `race hate capital .
The description sadly had a firm factual basis with official police figures at the time confirming that hate crimes both in Belfast and across Northern Ireland were rising at an alarming level.
In the space of the previous decade, the number of racist incidents recorded annually by the PSNI had jumped from less than 50 to almost 1,000.
Belfast Multi-Cultural Association fundraiser sees thousands donated in a few hours
The BMCA on Donegall Pass was badly damaged in a suspected arson attack which is being treated as a hate crime
The aftermath of the fire (Image: Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)
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