He misunderstood Trudeau’s open arms program. Update to this previous story.
Via CBC:
Reports that a man accused of sexual assaults on six Edmonton teenage girls was a Syrian refugee have ignited a firestorm of reaction, from anti-immigration diatribes to criticism about how the media dealt with the story.
Groups that work with refugees in the city have been inundated with calls and texts over the past 24 hours, some from people calling for an end to the refugee program and others from refugees themselves apologizing on behalf of their community.
Erick Ambtman, executive director of the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, said his organization received a message on Twitter from a white supremacist group that included a picture of a Syrian refugee, asking the centre to confirm whether the photo was the same man accused of the crimes.
“It may be just to scare us or to unnerve people,” Ambtman said.
“But around my office that’s what’s happening. People are starting to get really nervous, and the [English] language students are starting to get really nervous.
“And the Syrian students are apologizing for somebody who they don’t even know, because he’s got the same country of origin as they do.
“It’s really spiralling into a really ugly place.”
Soleiman Hajj Soleiman, 39, was arrested Saturday and charged with six counts of sexual assault and sexual interference after six teenage girls, all younger than 16, told police they were inappropriately touched while swimming at the West Edmonton Mall water park.
New complainant comes forwardWhen Edmonton police announced the charges on Wednesday, they urged any other complainants or witnesses to contact them. One more complainant and one more witness have since come forward, police spokesperson Scott Pattison said Thursday.
The man charged in the case was a Syrian refugee who arrived in Canada in January 2016, a fact that was reported Wednesday by numerous news outlets, including CBC News.[..]
Mohamed Huque, executive director of the Islamic Family and Social Services Association, said reports about Soleiman’s refugee status unfairly vilified an entire community.
“It’s going to inflame a segment of our population who already harbour a bias, a discrimination or unfair views towards newcomers,” said Huque, whose group last year helped resettle 250 Syrian refugees.
“I think this certainly emboldens them.”
Huque said the incident is already being used to incite fear of new immigrants, and has cast a negative light on thousands of refugees.
“The insertion of two words — Syrian refugee — completely changed the dimension of the story,” he said. “What was initially a local crime story became a wider discussion about screening practices, immigration levels. It just turned into an entirely different debate.”
HT: JettieG