Refugee/Migrant Crisis
- Thread starter Tecumsehsbones
- Start date
Cliffy... it was Canada that led the way in the bombing and destruction of Libya, then the subsequent assassination of it's leader.
You broke it... you own it.
It only took 4 days to get PetroCanada back in our hands and piping oil to Italy.
So where are the climate refugees we heard about 20 years ago?
So where are the climate refugees we heard about 20 years ago?
All wearing US Aid labels as well. You seem especially happy that many civilians were killed. Is being a psychopath really working out for you all that well. You should try some 'hands on stuff' so we can see you actually have the stomach to pull off the shit you love to post about as long as somebody else is doing the 'heavy lifting'.
It wouldn't surprise me if our Generals think tanks can fly, bull-shit sure does fly up here.
Hoid is over in 'introductions' offering to give English lessons. Come back when you have graduated
'AWFUL': 7 Syrian refugee children from same family killed in Halifax house fire
Canadian Press
Published:
February 19, 2019
Updated:
February 19, 2019 6:15 PM EST
HALIFAX — Seven children, all members of a Syrian refugee family, died early Tuesday in a fast-moving Halifax house fire described as Nova Scotia’s deadliest blaze in recent memory.
Their parents, identified as Ebraheim and Kawthar Barho, were in hospital Tuesday, where Ebraheim was fighting for his life after apparently trying in vain to save his children.
Kawthar Barho was also injured but is expected to survive. Their children ranged in age from about three months to the mid-teens.
In a brief interview from the hospital, Imam Wael Haridy of the Nova Scotia Islamic Community Centre said the Barhos had fled that country’s civil war.
“We’re here in hospital with a desperate mother who lost seven of her kids,” he said, noting that officials are conducting DNA tests to confirm identities before they can proceed with a traditional Islamic burial process.
“She’s saying to us, ’Am I going to get my children back?’ … It’s so hard. It’s so sad.”
Many people from Halifax’s tight-knit Muslim community had gathered at the hospital, he said.
“People want to try to help, but how can we … how can we provide her with anything?” said Haridy. “It’s a shock. It’s a tragedy.”
The family is among 1,795 Syrian refugees who have come to Nova Scotia in recent years, including 345 privately sponsored refugees.
For the Nova Scotians who sponsored the Syrian family, the news of the deaths of the children they’d grown close to came as an “unthinkable” blow.
“I think everyone is devastated and our loss pales in comparison to the parents,” said Natalie Horne, vice president of the Hants East Assisting Refugees Team (HEART).
Horne said the family arrived on Sept. 29, 2017. She said the children who died are: Ahmad, 14; Rola, 12; Mohamad, 9; Ola, 8; Hala, 3; Rana, 2 and Abdullah, who was born in Canada in November.
She said the family lived in Elmsdale for over a year and then came to Halifax to be closer to refugee support services, such as English-language training.
But she said they had missed the support of the community and the HEART society and had decided to return to Elmsdale.
The tragedy struck just days before the move back would have taken place.
“We were expecting them back in our community on March. … It was a huge loss for the family, when they moved. And they were looking forward to coming back. The children especially,” she said.
The group added in a Facebook post: “For the past year and a half, the children have been able to enjoy life as kids should be able to: going to school, riding bicycles, swimming, having friends, running in the yard, celebrating birthday parties and hanging out with the neighbours on their porch swing. They loved every minute of it, and it seems impossible we won’t hear their laughter and feel their hugs again.”
Halifax Fire Deputy Chief Dave Meldrum told reporters it was the deadliest fire anyone could remember in the East Coast province.
“Words fail when children are taken from us too soon, especially in circumstances like this,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a tweet.
“My heart goes out to the survivors of the horrible fire in Halifax this morning, and the loved ones who are mourning this tremendous loss.”
Danielle Burt, who lives next door to the Barhos on Quartz Drive, said she heard a loud bang and a woman screaming just after 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Burt fled the house with her four children and saw the parents outside in a harrowing scene.
“The mother was on the grass, praying I guess, bowing her hands down, and pulling on my husband’s arm to call 911,” said Burt, her voice breaking.
“She said the kids were inside and the dad was sitting on the steps. I think he had gone back in because he was really burnt. It was just awful.”
Burt said her kids had become good friends with the Barhos children.
“They were just over at our house yesterday,” she said. “It’s just something out of a horror movie that you just never would wish on anybody.”
Rich Farrell, who lives down the street, said he and other neighbours ran up to the house as soon as the fire broke out to see if they could help. First responders were not yet on scene.
“It’s so frightening but in the space of 30 seconds, it went from what looked like a little bit of flame to the whole thing just becoming engulfed,” said Farrell, standing on his porch on a bitterly cold, sunny day.
“You can’t say for sure what happened, but it makes you think about fire safety and what you might be able to do to protect your family.”
Imam Abdallah Yousri of the Ummah Mosque and Community Centre in Halifax said the family was from Raqqa, Syria.
He said the funerals would likely be held Wednesday or Thursday.
“Our entire municipality is heartbroken and our thoughts are with the loved ones of the family,” Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said in a tweet.
Jennifer Watts, CEO of the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia, said in an interview that staff members who worked directly with the family teaching English and providing services are heartbroken by the deaths.
“It is very, very sad this has happened … for the Syrian community here and the wider community in Halifax,” she said in a telephone interview.
“It’s shocking and very sad. It’s had an impact on our clients who knew them and on our staff who were working with them,” she said.
Doug Hadley, a spokesman for the Halifax Regional Centre for Education, said four of the children attended schools in the area — two at Central Spryfield Elementary and two at Rockingstone Heights.
“We have additional staff in place at both schools to provide support to students. They will provide support on site for as long as necessary,” he said in an emailed statement.
The family’s home, which was extensively damaged in the blaze, is situated in a newly built residential neighbourhood. The entire backside of the home was gutted by the blaze, and adjacent homes were also damaged.
Colourful children’s toys could be seen piled in the open garage. Nearby, mourners had placed flowers and a teddy bear at the foot of a lamp post.
A neighbour who did not want to be identified told The Canadian Press she had been startled awake by screams.
“We heard horrible screams and then got up and saw the flames,” she said. “It was horrible. We called 911 but it took a long time to get through because apparently everyone was calling 911 at the same time.”
The fire spread very quickly as they watched, she said.
“It was really scary,” she said.
“I was nervous it was going to hit the house next door but it didn’t. And then the fire crews finally got here, but there were flames shooting out the front of the house, like shooting out the windows. It was horrible.”
When Meldrum was asked why a fire would spread so quickly through a new home, he declined to speak about the nature of the fire in question. But in general terms, he said: “New homes are built with light-weight construction. Once fire barriers are penetrated, rapid fire spread is possible in new construction.”
Halifax District Fire Chief Mike Blackburn said the fire was very heavy when they arrived, but firefighters were able to “knock it down” quickly. He suggested firefighters were deeply affected by what they saw inside the home.
“They’ll process this over time but it’s very difficult and it’s not going to get any easier,” said Blackburn.
Watts said the immigrant services association was providing trauma counselling to friends and people shaken by the tragedy.
“This is a moment for all of us in our communities to think about reaching out to immigrants and newcomers who don’t have all the family and friends in the community and building those relationships … so that people don’t feel alone and disconnected when something like this happens,” she said.
A fundraising campaign, organized by family friends including the Imam Council of Halifax, has been launched to help the grieving parents.
“They have lost all their children,” the GoFundMe page, called Halifax House Fire Tragedy, said. “Mother is thankfully safe but the husband is facing life threatening injuries.”
“We need to support them in facing their calamity and help them finding a new shelter and pay for expected expenses,” the page said. “It’s hard to estimate how much they’ll need to restart their lives.”
http://twitter.com/i/videos/tweet/1097841740927639557
http://gofundme.com/spryfield-fire-disaster-support
http://torontosun.com/news/national/multiple-fatalities-in-early-morning-house-fire-in-halifax-cops
Canadian Press
Published:
February 19, 2019
Updated:
February 19, 2019 6:15 PM EST
HALIFAX — Seven children, all members of a Syrian refugee family, died early Tuesday in a fast-moving Halifax house fire described as Nova Scotia’s deadliest blaze in recent memory.
Their parents, identified as Ebraheim and Kawthar Barho, were in hospital Tuesday, where Ebraheim was fighting for his life after apparently trying in vain to save his children.
Kawthar Barho was also injured but is expected to survive. Their children ranged in age from about three months to the mid-teens.
In a brief interview from the hospital, Imam Wael Haridy of the Nova Scotia Islamic Community Centre said the Barhos had fled that country’s civil war.
“We’re here in hospital with a desperate mother who lost seven of her kids,” he said, noting that officials are conducting DNA tests to confirm identities before they can proceed with a traditional Islamic burial process.
“She’s saying to us, ’Am I going to get my children back?’ … It’s so hard. It’s so sad.”
Many people from Halifax’s tight-knit Muslim community had gathered at the hospital, he said.
“People want to try to help, but how can we … how can we provide her with anything?” said Haridy. “It’s a shock. It’s a tragedy.”
The family is among 1,795 Syrian refugees who have come to Nova Scotia in recent years, including 345 privately sponsored refugees.
For the Nova Scotians who sponsored the Syrian family, the news of the deaths of the children they’d grown close to came as an “unthinkable” blow.
“I think everyone is devastated and our loss pales in comparison to the parents,” said Natalie Horne, vice president of the Hants East Assisting Refugees Team (HEART).
Horne said the family arrived on Sept. 29, 2017. She said the children who died are: Ahmad, 14; Rola, 12; Mohamad, 9; Ola, 8; Hala, 3; Rana, 2 and Abdullah, who was born in Canada in November.
She said the family lived in Elmsdale for over a year and then came to Halifax to be closer to refugee support services, such as English-language training.
But she said they had missed the support of the community and the HEART society and had decided to return to Elmsdale.
The tragedy struck just days before the move back would have taken place.
“We were expecting them back in our community on March. … It was a huge loss for the family, when they moved. And they were looking forward to coming back. The children especially,” she said.
The group added in a Facebook post: “For the past year and a half, the children have been able to enjoy life as kids should be able to: going to school, riding bicycles, swimming, having friends, running in the yard, celebrating birthday parties and hanging out with the neighbours on their porch swing. They loved every minute of it, and it seems impossible we won’t hear their laughter and feel their hugs again.”
Halifax Fire Deputy Chief Dave Meldrum told reporters it was the deadliest fire anyone could remember in the East Coast province.
“Words fail when children are taken from us too soon, especially in circumstances like this,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a tweet.
“My heart goes out to the survivors of the horrible fire in Halifax this morning, and the loved ones who are mourning this tremendous loss.”
Danielle Burt, who lives next door to the Barhos on Quartz Drive, said she heard a loud bang and a woman screaming just after 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Burt fled the house with her four children and saw the parents outside in a harrowing scene.
“The mother was on the grass, praying I guess, bowing her hands down, and pulling on my husband’s arm to call 911,” said Burt, her voice breaking.
“She said the kids were inside and the dad was sitting on the steps. I think he had gone back in because he was really burnt. It was just awful.”
Burt said her kids had become good friends with the Barhos children.
“They were just over at our house yesterday,” she said. “It’s just something out of a horror movie that you just never would wish on anybody.”
Rich Farrell, who lives down the street, said he and other neighbours ran up to the house as soon as the fire broke out to see if they could help. First responders were not yet on scene.
“It’s so frightening but in the space of 30 seconds, it went from what looked like a little bit of flame to the whole thing just becoming engulfed,” said Farrell, standing on his porch on a bitterly cold, sunny day.
“You can’t say for sure what happened, but it makes you think about fire safety and what you might be able to do to protect your family.”
Imam Abdallah Yousri of the Ummah Mosque and Community Centre in Halifax said the family was from Raqqa, Syria.
He said the funerals would likely be held Wednesday or Thursday.
“Our entire municipality is heartbroken and our thoughts are with the loved ones of the family,” Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said in a tweet.
Jennifer Watts, CEO of the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia, said in an interview that staff members who worked directly with the family teaching English and providing services are heartbroken by the deaths.
“It is very, very sad this has happened … for the Syrian community here and the wider community in Halifax,” she said in a telephone interview.
“It’s shocking and very sad. It’s had an impact on our clients who knew them and on our staff who were working with them,” she said.
Doug Hadley, a spokesman for the Halifax Regional Centre for Education, said four of the children attended schools in the area — two at Central Spryfield Elementary and two at Rockingstone Heights.
“We have additional staff in place at both schools to provide support to students. They will provide support on site for as long as necessary,” he said in an emailed statement.
The family’s home, which was extensively damaged in the blaze, is situated in a newly built residential neighbourhood. The entire backside of the home was gutted by the blaze, and adjacent homes were also damaged.
Colourful children’s toys could be seen piled in the open garage. Nearby, mourners had placed flowers and a teddy bear at the foot of a lamp post.
A neighbour who did not want to be identified told The Canadian Press she had been startled awake by screams.
“We heard horrible screams and then got up and saw the flames,” she said. “It was horrible. We called 911 but it took a long time to get through because apparently everyone was calling 911 at the same time.”
The fire spread very quickly as they watched, she said.
“It was really scary,” she said.
“I was nervous it was going to hit the house next door but it didn’t. And then the fire crews finally got here, but there were flames shooting out the front of the house, like shooting out the windows. It was horrible.”
When Meldrum was asked why a fire would spread so quickly through a new home, he declined to speak about the nature of the fire in question. But in general terms, he said: “New homes are built with light-weight construction. Once fire barriers are penetrated, rapid fire spread is possible in new construction.”
Halifax District Fire Chief Mike Blackburn said the fire was very heavy when they arrived, but firefighters were able to “knock it down” quickly. He suggested firefighters were deeply affected by what they saw inside the home.
“They’ll process this over time but it’s very difficult and it’s not going to get any easier,” said Blackburn.
Watts said the immigrant services association was providing trauma counselling to friends and people shaken by the tragedy.
“This is a moment for all of us in our communities to think about reaching out to immigrants and newcomers who don’t have all the family and friends in the community and building those relationships … so that people don’t feel alone and disconnected when something like this happens,” she said.
A fundraising campaign, organized by family friends including the Imam Council of Halifax, has been launched to help the grieving parents.
“They have lost all their children,” the GoFundMe page, called Halifax House Fire Tragedy, said. “Mother is thankfully safe but the husband is facing life threatening injuries.”
“We need to support them in facing their calamity and help them finding a new shelter and pay for expected expenses,” the page said. “It’s hard to estimate how much they’ll need to restart their lives.”
http://gofundme.com/spryfield-fire-disaster-support
http://torontosun.com/news/national/multiple-fatalities-in-early-morning-house-fire-in-halifax-cops
Trudeau: Ottawa looking at reuniting Syrian family after fire claims 7 children
Canadian Press
Published:
February 21, 2019
Updated:
February 21, 2019 4:42 PM EST
HALIFAX — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed Thursday his government is responding to a desperate plea from the grieving mother who lost all seven of her children in a recent house fire, saying he wants to “give this family a little solace in a time of unbelievable tragedy.”
Kawthar Barho, whose husband Ebraheim is in a medically induced coma to recover from extensive burns, has told local politicians and religious leaders in Halifax that she wants to be reunited with family members living overseas because she has no other relatives in Canada.
The prime minister, in Halifax on Thursday for a funding announcement, said Halifax MP Andy Fillmore had already contacted Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen about expediting the immigration process for some family members.
“I can’t comment on specific cases, but in heartbreaking cases like this we’re certainly looking at doing what we can to bring this family that has suffered such a devastating loss together,” said Trudeau, who attended a vigil in Halifax’s main square Wednesday night in support of the Barhos.
The Barhos arrived in Nova Scotia with their children as privately sponsored refugees in September 2017.
Early Tuesday, a fast-moving fire killed all of their children: Ahmad, 14; Rola, 12; Mohamad, 9; Ola, 8; Hala, 3; Rana, 2 and Abdullah, who was born in Canada on Nov. 9.
The cause of the fire remains unclear.
Fillmore said immigration applications were being reviewed Thursday.
“This is an absolute priority to get this done as quickly as possible,” he said. “I think it’s absolutely critical that we get those family members here as quickly as we can.”
The Liberal MP said he had met with Kawthar at the hospital, where she was asked if there was anything federal officials could do to help.
“She made it clear that it was her family,” Fillmore said.
Natalie Horne, vice-president of the community group that sponsored the Barhos’ refugee claim, said some family members from Syria have already registered with the UN refugee agency, which should help speed up the process.
Typical refugee claims can take several years to complete.
“Once (the Barhos’ story) leaves the headlines and people go back to their lives, there’s still going to be a wake of tragedy for Kawthar and for Ebraheim,” said Horne, vice-president of the Hants East Assisting Refugees Team.
“It will be a long road to recovery … It’s really important for us to get family here who can support them on that journey.”
Horne said Kawthar Barho told her the fire was caused by an electric baseboard heater that ignited a couch.
However, deputy fire Chief David Meldrum said residents should be wary of reading too much into that kind of speculation.
“We’re aware of the reports that are in the media, as well as other information on social media,” Meldrum said in an interview. “I want to remind everyone this information is not coming from official sources. Our investigation is ongoing.”
Meldrum said if the investigation uncovers anything that would affect community safety, that information will be released to the public as soon as possible.
Still, he said it was unclear how long the investigation would take.
Ehab Zalok, an expert in fire safety engineering at Carleton University in Ottawa, said the fact that neighbours heard a bang before flames spread rapidly through the house suggests something non-solid, like a gas, may have caused the fire to spread rapidly.
He said the scale of the fire, which destroyed much of the home’s top floor, suggests it was “much more than just (a) structure burning or furniture burning” because that kind of fire usually takes longer to grow.
“If you have something burning for a few minutes you would expect that people will smell something like smoke, smoke alarms will sound — something to prepare people for what’s coming, which is a bigger fire,” he said in an interview.
A funeral for the children is expected either Friday or Saturday, said Imam Abdallah Yousri of the Ummah Mosque in Halifax.
Though the mosque can hold about 2,000 people, Yousri said the ceremony will be moved to a larger venue. That site had yet to be selected by Thursday afternoon.
The Barhos had lived in the Halifax suburb of Spryfield for only a few months, having moved to the city from nearby Elmsdale, N.S., to take advantage of language training and other immigrant services. They had planned to return to Elmsdale next month.
Neighbours say the children missed their old school and the friends they had made there.
The Barho family was among 1,795 Syrian refugees who have come to Nova Scotia in recent years.
The Trudeau government granted asylum to 40,000 Syrian refugees in 2015-16.
A brutal civil war has raged across Syria since 2011, claiming more than 400,000 lives.
http://torontosun.com/news/national...ng-syrian-family-after-fire-claims-7-children
Canadian Press
Published:
February 21, 2019
Updated:
February 21, 2019 4:42 PM EST
HALIFAX — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed Thursday his government is responding to a desperate plea from the grieving mother who lost all seven of her children in a recent house fire, saying he wants to “give this family a little solace in a time of unbelievable tragedy.”
Kawthar Barho, whose husband Ebraheim is in a medically induced coma to recover from extensive burns, has told local politicians and religious leaders in Halifax that she wants to be reunited with family members living overseas because she has no other relatives in Canada.
The prime minister, in Halifax on Thursday for a funding announcement, said Halifax MP Andy Fillmore had already contacted Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen about expediting the immigration process for some family members.
“I can’t comment on specific cases, but in heartbreaking cases like this we’re certainly looking at doing what we can to bring this family that has suffered such a devastating loss together,” said Trudeau, who attended a vigil in Halifax’s main square Wednesday night in support of the Barhos.
The Barhos arrived in Nova Scotia with their children as privately sponsored refugees in September 2017.
Early Tuesday, a fast-moving fire killed all of their children: Ahmad, 14; Rola, 12; Mohamad, 9; Ola, 8; Hala, 3; Rana, 2 and Abdullah, who was born in Canada on Nov. 9.
The cause of the fire remains unclear.
Fillmore said immigration applications were being reviewed Thursday.
“This is an absolute priority to get this done as quickly as possible,” he said. “I think it’s absolutely critical that we get those family members here as quickly as we can.”
The Liberal MP said he had met with Kawthar at the hospital, where she was asked if there was anything federal officials could do to help.
“She made it clear that it was her family,” Fillmore said.
Natalie Horne, vice-president of the community group that sponsored the Barhos’ refugee claim, said some family members from Syria have already registered with the UN refugee agency, which should help speed up the process.
Typical refugee claims can take several years to complete.
“Once (the Barhos’ story) leaves the headlines and people go back to their lives, there’s still going to be a wake of tragedy for Kawthar and for Ebraheim,” said Horne, vice-president of the Hants East Assisting Refugees Team.
“It will be a long road to recovery … It’s really important for us to get family here who can support them on that journey.”
Horne said Kawthar Barho told her the fire was caused by an electric baseboard heater that ignited a couch.
However, deputy fire Chief David Meldrum said residents should be wary of reading too much into that kind of speculation.
“We’re aware of the reports that are in the media, as well as other information on social media,” Meldrum said in an interview. “I want to remind everyone this information is not coming from official sources. Our investigation is ongoing.”
Meldrum said if the investigation uncovers anything that would affect community safety, that information will be released to the public as soon as possible.
Still, he said it was unclear how long the investigation would take.
Ehab Zalok, an expert in fire safety engineering at Carleton University in Ottawa, said the fact that neighbours heard a bang before flames spread rapidly through the house suggests something non-solid, like a gas, may have caused the fire to spread rapidly.
He said the scale of the fire, which destroyed much of the home’s top floor, suggests it was “much more than just (a) structure burning or furniture burning” because that kind of fire usually takes longer to grow.
“If you have something burning for a few minutes you would expect that people will smell something like smoke, smoke alarms will sound — something to prepare people for what’s coming, which is a bigger fire,” he said in an interview.
A funeral for the children is expected either Friday or Saturday, said Imam Abdallah Yousri of the Ummah Mosque in Halifax.
Though the mosque can hold about 2,000 people, Yousri said the ceremony will be moved to a larger venue. That site had yet to be selected by Thursday afternoon.
The Barhos had lived in the Halifax suburb of Spryfield for only a few months, having moved to the city from nearby Elmsdale, N.S., to take advantage of language training and other immigrant services. They had planned to return to Elmsdale next month.
Neighbours say the children missed their old school and the friends they had made there.
The Barho family was among 1,795 Syrian refugees who have come to Nova Scotia in recent years.
The Trudeau government granted asylum to 40,000 Syrian refugees in 2015-16.
A brutal civil war has raged across Syria since 2011, claiming more than 400,000 lives.
A 'warm embrace' for grieving parents at funeral of 7 young N.S. fire victims
Canadian Press
Published:
February 23, 2019
Updated:
February 23, 2019 7:01 PM EST
HALIFAX — One by one, seven small white caskets were carried inside a cavernous waterfront hall on Saturday, where thousands of mourners gathered for an emotional embrace of grieving parents who lost their children in a devastating house fire.
Seven black hearses lined up under the cold winter sun, the caskets brought inside the Cunard Centre by an honour guard.
As they filled a stage, a heartrending sobbing could be heard, the anguish of a woman who lost all of her children in Tuesday’s fast-moving fire, and whose husband was in hospital being treated for severe burns.
Caskets of the seven Barho siblings rest on a stage behind Halifax Fire and Police honour guard during the funeral for the Syrian refugees in Halifax on Saturday, February 23, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese) Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Mourners offered love and support to Kawthar Barho, who arrived in Canada with her family 18 months ago as Syrian refugees.
But the overwhelming devastation of losing seven children in one night — from an infant baby to a teenager — hung heavy over the funeral.
“I’ve done many funerals but nothing like this, so please bear with me,” an overwhelmed Sheikh Hamza said as he offered the ceremony’s English sermon.
More than 2,000 people attended the two-hour service, with every seat filled and hundreds more people standing.
Imam Abdallah Yousri said he hoped opening the ceremony to the public would allow Barho to see the entire community had been united in sympathy.
“On what is our darkest day, we see the best of humanity when we look out into the sea of faces in front of us,” said Natalie Horne, vice-president of the community group that sponsored the Barhos’ refugee claim.
“Our lives were enriched as a result of our relationship with you and your children,” Horne told Barho through tears. “We love them and we love you.”
Members of the Barho family are shown upon arrival in Canada on Sept. 29 2017, at the Halifax airport in a handout photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Enfield Weekly Press-Pat Healey)
Many of those gathered openly wept when the children’s names were read: Teenager Ahmad; Rola, 12; Mohamad, 9; Ola, 8; Hala, 3; Rana, 2; and Abdullah, who was born in Canada on Nov. 9.
“Together our community will find ways to honour your memories,” the city’s deputy mayor, Tony Mancini, said after reading the names.
“I encourage each of you to use the sadness we share as a community to fuel acts of love and kindness towards our family, friends and neighbours.”
It was a common theme throughout the funeral — a desire for the tragedy to lead to love and unity.
“Life is short and temporary. Live it the best way possible,” Hamza said.
Firefighters investigate following a house fire in the Spryfield community in Halifax on February 19, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese)
Nova Scotia deputy premier Karen Casey told Barho “we will not abandon you. We will not leave you alone.”
“Please accept our love,” Casey said. “Please accept our warm embrace.”
Halifax MP Andy Fillmore told Barho the community would be there for her in the hard times to come. But he acknowledged it’s family that brings the greatest comfort, and said the federal government is trying to bring her overseas relatives to Canada quickly.
“We are working as hard as we can to get your family here as quickly as possible so they can be by your side,” Fillmore said.
Mourners, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, said they came because they had been deeply affected by the tragedy, and wanted to show their support for Barho as she faced unimaginable grief.
“She doesn’t know me, I don’t know her, but I know I’m here. And she’s our family — their whole family is our family. I want to be here for all of them,” Cindy Samson said in an interview.
Adnan Aboushahla said it was a “shock for anyone — not only for Muslim people, but for Christians and other religions,” to witness such a tragedy.
“We want to do whatever we can — either give support, money, feelings, this grief,” said Aboushahla.
Following the funeral service, the combined honour guards of Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency and Halifax Regional Police carried each coffin back outside, one at a time, to the waiting hearses. There was to be a burial at a Muslim cemetery in Hammonds Plains following the funeral.
Peter Andrews, Halifax fire deputy chief of operations, said it was a “huge honour to be invited to participate in this family’s darkest day.”
He said none of the firefighters that responded to the horrific blaze were part of the funeral’s honour guard.
“We put on a brave face today,” he said. “We’ll grieve in our own way in the weeks ahead.”
The children’s father, Ebraheim Barho, remained in hospital Friday recovering from extensive burns. He was in critical, but stable condition.
The cause of the blaze in the Halifax suburb of Spryfield early Tuesday remains unclear.
Mourner Tareq Hadhad, a Syrian refugee who founded Peace by Chocolate in Nova Scotia, said it is hard for the parents to handle all the pain by themselves.
“I would say it’s the most devastating period that I have ever lived, even though we lost family members back home in Syria. The loss of seven kids at once really has had a very devastating impact on the entire community here,” he said.
Mourner Mouna Manna praised the outpouring of support, and said the mother’s burden is unimaginable.
“I don’t even know where to begin to imagine how this would be, to lose not one or two but seven of them all at once … it’s a huge, huge devastation,” she said.
The scale of the tragedy for the young family that arrived in Nova Scotia in the fall of 2017 as refugees has struck a chord with Canadians.
A GoFundMe campaign had raised about $585,000 by Saturday evening.
The Barho family lived in Elmsdale, a 30-minute drive north of Halifax, when they first arrived in Nova Scotia, and were embraced by residents there.
They moved to the Halifax suburb of Spryfield to take advantage of language training and other immigrant services, and had planned to return to Elmsdale next month.
The family was among 1,795 Syrian refugees who have come to Nova Scotia in recent years. The Trudeau government granted asylum to 40,000 Syrian refugees in 2015-16.
A brutal civil war has raged across Syria since 2011, claiming more than 400,000 lives.
http://torontosun.com/news/national...arents-at-funeral-of-7-young-n-s-fire-victims
Canadian Press
Published:
February 23, 2019
Updated:
February 23, 2019 7:01 PM EST
HALIFAX — One by one, seven small white caskets were carried inside a cavernous waterfront hall on Saturday, where thousands of mourners gathered for an emotional embrace of grieving parents who lost their children in a devastating house fire.
Seven black hearses lined up under the cold winter sun, the caskets brought inside the Cunard Centre by an honour guard.
As they filled a stage, a heartrending sobbing could be heard, the anguish of a woman who lost all of her children in Tuesday’s fast-moving fire, and whose husband was in hospital being treated for severe burns.
Caskets of the seven Barho siblings rest on a stage behind Halifax Fire and Police honour guard during the funeral for the Syrian refugees in Halifax on Saturday, February 23, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese) Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Mourners offered love and support to Kawthar Barho, who arrived in Canada with her family 18 months ago as Syrian refugees.
But the overwhelming devastation of losing seven children in one night — from an infant baby to a teenager — hung heavy over the funeral.
“I’ve done many funerals but nothing like this, so please bear with me,” an overwhelmed Sheikh Hamza said as he offered the ceremony’s English sermon.
More than 2,000 people attended the two-hour service, with every seat filled and hundreds more people standing.
Imam Abdallah Yousri said he hoped opening the ceremony to the public would allow Barho to see the entire community had been united in sympathy.
“On what is our darkest day, we see the best of humanity when we look out into the sea of faces in front of us,” said Natalie Horne, vice-president of the community group that sponsored the Barhos’ refugee claim.
“Our lives were enriched as a result of our relationship with you and your children,” Horne told Barho through tears. “We love them and we love you.”
Members of the Barho family are shown upon arrival in Canada on Sept. 29 2017, at the Halifax airport in a handout photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Enfield Weekly Press-Pat Healey)
Many of those gathered openly wept when the children’s names were read: Teenager Ahmad; Rola, 12; Mohamad, 9; Ola, 8; Hala, 3; Rana, 2; and Abdullah, who was born in Canada on Nov. 9.
“Together our community will find ways to honour your memories,” the city’s deputy mayor, Tony Mancini, said after reading the names.
“I encourage each of you to use the sadness we share as a community to fuel acts of love and kindness towards our family, friends and neighbours.”
It was a common theme throughout the funeral — a desire for the tragedy to lead to love and unity.
“Life is short and temporary. Live it the best way possible,” Hamza said.
Firefighters investigate following a house fire in the Spryfield community in Halifax on February 19, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese)
Nova Scotia deputy premier Karen Casey told Barho “we will not abandon you. We will not leave you alone.”
“Please accept our love,” Casey said. “Please accept our warm embrace.”
Halifax MP Andy Fillmore told Barho the community would be there for her in the hard times to come. But he acknowledged it’s family that brings the greatest comfort, and said the federal government is trying to bring her overseas relatives to Canada quickly.
“We are working as hard as we can to get your family here as quickly as possible so they can be by your side,” Fillmore said.
Mourners, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, said they came because they had been deeply affected by the tragedy, and wanted to show their support for Barho as she faced unimaginable grief.
“She doesn’t know me, I don’t know her, but I know I’m here. And she’s our family — their whole family is our family. I want to be here for all of them,” Cindy Samson said in an interview.
Adnan Aboushahla said it was a “shock for anyone — not only for Muslim people, but for Christians and other religions,” to witness such a tragedy.
“We want to do whatever we can — either give support, money, feelings, this grief,” said Aboushahla.
Following the funeral service, the combined honour guards of Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency and Halifax Regional Police carried each coffin back outside, one at a time, to the waiting hearses. There was to be a burial at a Muslim cemetery in Hammonds Plains following the funeral.
Peter Andrews, Halifax fire deputy chief of operations, said it was a “huge honour to be invited to participate in this family’s darkest day.”
He said none of the firefighters that responded to the horrific blaze were part of the funeral’s honour guard.
“We put on a brave face today,” he said. “We’ll grieve in our own way in the weeks ahead.”
The children’s father, Ebraheim Barho, remained in hospital Friday recovering from extensive burns. He was in critical, but stable condition.
The cause of the blaze in the Halifax suburb of Spryfield early Tuesday remains unclear.
Mourner Tareq Hadhad, a Syrian refugee who founded Peace by Chocolate in Nova Scotia, said it is hard for the parents to handle all the pain by themselves.
“I would say it’s the most devastating period that I have ever lived, even though we lost family members back home in Syria. The loss of seven kids at once really has had a very devastating impact on the entire community here,” he said.
Mourner Mouna Manna praised the outpouring of support, and said the mother’s burden is unimaginable.
“I don’t even know where to begin to imagine how this would be, to lose not one or two but seven of them all at once … it’s a huge, huge devastation,” she said.
The scale of the tragedy for the young family that arrived in Nova Scotia in the fall of 2017 as refugees has struck a chord with Canadians.
A GoFundMe campaign had raised about $585,000 by Saturday evening.
The Barho family lived in Elmsdale, a 30-minute drive north of Halifax, when they first arrived in Nova Scotia, and were embraced by residents there.
They moved to the Halifax suburb of Spryfield to take advantage of language training and other immigrant services, and had planned to return to Elmsdale next month.
The family was among 1,795 Syrian refugees who have come to Nova Scotia in recent years. The Trudeau government granted asylum to 40,000 Syrian refugees in 2015-16.
A brutal civil war has raged across Syria since 2011, claiming more than 400,000 lives.
’NOT CANADIAN ENOUGH’: Edmonton woman’s girls denied citizenship under 2009 law
Canadian Press
Published:
February 25, 2019
Updated:
February 25, 2019 9:53 PM EST
Vicki Maruyama plays with her daughters Akari, centre, and Arisa, left, in Edmonton on Wednesday, February 20, 2019. Maruyama says she feels like she's not Canadian enough after her daughters were denied citizenship.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason FransonJASON FRANSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON — A woman in Alberta says she feels like she’s not Canadian enough after her daughters were denied citizenship.
Victoria Maruyama was born in Hong Kong and, because her father was Canadian, has been a Canadian citizen since she was a baby. When she was a year old, the family moved to Edmonton where she grew up.
At the age of 22, she went to Japan to teach English.
“I met my kids’ dad,” Maruyama said in an interview with The Canadian Press. “The plan was just to teach English throughout Asia, move around from one country to the next, but he kind of scotched my plans.”
She was seven months pregnant with their first daughter, Akari, in 2009 when Conservative government amendments to the citizenship laws took away her right to pass on citizenship to her children unless they were born in Canada.
Story continues below
By that time, it was too late in her pregnancy to fly back to Canada. Her second daughter, Arisa, was also born in Japan.
The girls are now seven and nine years old and, despite moving back to Edmonton almost two years ago, Maruyama is still fighting for them to become Canadian.
“We had to struggle to get my kids in school. We had to fight to get them health care. They had no health care for months. Then they had it for six months and then they were stripped of it again,” she said.
“It should be my right to come home with my children and for them to be educated and … have health care and vaccinations and all those basic things.”
A January letter from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada notes Akari and Arisa were rejected because “they are not stateless, will not face special and unusual hardship if you are not granted Canadian citizenship and you have not provided services of exceptional value to Canada.”
Officials with the federal department said in a statement that decision-makers determined that criteria for citizenship have not been met.
“As part of the determination, the best interests of the child were considered,” they said in an email. “However, sufficient evidence was not provided to demonstrate that the children have been denied access to basic services in Canada.”
Maruyama’s lawyer, Charles Gibson, has filed an application for a judicial review in Federal Court. He argues that the rejection is unlawful and that the Citizenship Act is discriminatory.
“It creates two classes of Canadian citizens,” he says in court documents. “One class that can perpetually pass on or inherit Canadian citizenship and one that cannot. The Citizenship Act precludes the applicant’s mother from passing … on her Canadian citizenship to the applicant.
“As a result, the applicant has suffered a great deal of hardship.”
Don Chapman, an advocate for “lost” Canadians, said the law also goes against the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Canada signed in 1990.
“You have the right to live in the country with your parents. You have the right to an education. You have a right to medical. You have a right to seek legal guidance if the country won’t do this,” he said.
Chapman said there are many expat Canadians who could find themselves in the same situation.
“It’s a problem that’s going to explode.”
When Justin Trudeau was citizenship and immigration critic, he promised in a March 2011 news release to change the “anachronistic” law.
But Chapman said the Liberal government still hasn’t addressed the loophole for second-generation Canadians born abroad.
“It means there’s only one group of Canadian citizens that have a litmus test to get their kids in,” he said. “If the kids had been abandoned, the kids would be Canadian. If you or me or any other Canadian adopts the children, they have a right of citizenship. If Vicki had been an immigrant Canadian and then naturalized, her kids would be Canadian.”
He said the Maruyama family is caught in the middle of the 2009 legal changes.
“There’s Trudeau going a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian, and no, no and no,” said Chapman, who noted the Conservative Opposition has also been silent on the issue. “They all talk about refugees and immigrants, but no one is talking about this.”
Maruyama said if they aren’t able to get citizenship, her girls could apply for permanent residence status as immigrants — a possibility confirmed by the federal Immigration Department.
“They would have a higher level of citizenship than me because they (could) … pass on citizenship to their children,” she said. “But me living here 20-some years is not enough.
“Not Canadian enough.”
http://torontosun.com/news/national...omans-girls-denied-citizenship-under-2009-law
Canadian Press
Published:
February 25, 2019
Updated:
February 25, 2019 9:53 PM EST
Vicki Maruyama plays with her daughters Akari, centre, and Arisa, left, in Edmonton on Wednesday, February 20, 2019. Maruyama says she feels like she's not Canadian enough after her daughters were denied citizenship.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason FransonJASON FRANSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON — A woman in Alberta says she feels like she’s not Canadian enough after her daughters were denied citizenship.
Victoria Maruyama was born in Hong Kong and, because her father was Canadian, has been a Canadian citizen since she was a baby. When she was a year old, the family moved to Edmonton where she grew up.
At the age of 22, she went to Japan to teach English.
“I met my kids’ dad,” Maruyama said in an interview with The Canadian Press. “The plan was just to teach English throughout Asia, move around from one country to the next, but he kind of scotched my plans.”
She was seven months pregnant with their first daughter, Akari, in 2009 when Conservative government amendments to the citizenship laws took away her right to pass on citizenship to her children unless they were born in Canada.
Story continues below
By that time, it was too late in her pregnancy to fly back to Canada. Her second daughter, Arisa, was also born in Japan.
The girls are now seven and nine years old and, despite moving back to Edmonton almost two years ago, Maruyama is still fighting for them to become Canadian.
“We had to struggle to get my kids in school. We had to fight to get them health care. They had no health care for months. Then they had it for six months and then they were stripped of it again,” she said.
“It should be my right to come home with my children and for them to be educated and … have health care and vaccinations and all those basic things.”
A January letter from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada notes Akari and Arisa were rejected because “they are not stateless, will not face special and unusual hardship if you are not granted Canadian citizenship and you have not provided services of exceptional value to Canada.”
Officials with the federal department said in a statement that decision-makers determined that criteria for citizenship have not been met.
“As part of the determination, the best interests of the child were considered,” they said in an email. “However, sufficient evidence was not provided to demonstrate that the children have been denied access to basic services in Canada.”
Maruyama’s lawyer, Charles Gibson, has filed an application for a judicial review in Federal Court. He argues that the rejection is unlawful and that the Citizenship Act is discriminatory.
“It creates two classes of Canadian citizens,” he says in court documents. “One class that can perpetually pass on or inherit Canadian citizenship and one that cannot. The Citizenship Act precludes the applicant’s mother from passing … on her Canadian citizenship to the applicant.
“As a result, the applicant has suffered a great deal of hardship.”
Don Chapman, an advocate for “lost” Canadians, said the law also goes against the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Canada signed in 1990.
“You have the right to live in the country with your parents. You have the right to an education. You have a right to medical. You have a right to seek legal guidance if the country won’t do this,” he said.
Chapman said there are many expat Canadians who could find themselves in the same situation.
“It’s a problem that’s going to explode.”
When Justin Trudeau was citizenship and immigration critic, he promised in a March 2011 news release to change the “anachronistic” law.
But Chapman said the Liberal government still hasn’t addressed the loophole for second-generation Canadians born abroad.
“It means there’s only one group of Canadian citizens that have a litmus test to get their kids in,” he said. “If the kids had been abandoned, the kids would be Canadian. If you or me or any other Canadian adopts the children, they have a right of citizenship. If Vicki had been an immigrant Canadian and then naturalized, her kids would be Canadian.”
He said the Maruyama family is caught in the middle of the 2009 legal changes.
“There’s Trudeau going a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian, and no, no and no,” said Chapman, who noted the Conservative Opposition has also been silent on the issue. “They all talk about refugees and immigrants, but no one is talking about this.”
Maruyama said if they aren’t able to get citizenship, her girls could apply for permanent residence status as immigrants — a possibility confirmed by the federal Immigration Department.
“They would have a higher level of citizenship than me because they (could) … pass on citizenship to their children,” she said. “But me living here 20-some years is not enough.
“Not Canadian enough.”
http://torontosun.com/news/national...omans-girls-denied-citizenship-under-2009-law
Looks like somebody fell asleep on the couch while smoking a cigarette. It it was set so certain members could be fast-tracked into the country.
https://globalnews.ca/news/4980017/imam-mother-7-children-died-halifax-house-fire/
Ibrahim Al-shanti, who has been visiting with Kawthar, says the mother told him everyone had gone to bed upstairs that night.
She told him she had come downstairs to make milk for the baby.
“From what I understand, and again this is through Kawthar, through translation, she saw the couch on fire and the fire spread upwards towards the bedrooms where the children were sleeping,” she said.
https://globalnews.ca/news/4980017/imam-mother-7-children-died-halifax-house-fire/
Ibrahim Al-shanti, who has been visiting with Kawthar, says the mother told him everyone had gone to bed upstairs that night.
She told him she had come downstairs to make milk for the baby.
“She came down to make milk for the baby and she noticed [the fire]. She called her husband, who tried to put it off. And he pushed the lady out away from the fire,” he said.
“From what I understand, and again this is through Kawthar, through translation, she saw the couch on fire and the fire spread upwards towards the bedrooms where the children were sleeping,” she said.
Immigration consultant charged with fraud
Kevin Connor
Published:
February 27, 2019
Updated:
February 27, 2019 11:33 AM EST
Dunstan Munroe, 67, of Ajax, has been charged with fraud over $5,000 and counsel an uncommitted indictable offence.
Toronto Police have arrested an immigration consultant for alleged fraud.
The owner of a company called Immigration Experts was working as a consultant last year and into 2019 to help clients become permanent residents of Canada. However, police say he had been suspended by the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council in December 2017 and had his licence revoked in January 2018.
Police say that in January of this year, it was discovered he hadn’t completed a female client’s application. They also allege he offered to sponsor a client and tell immigration he was in a common-law relationship with her.
Dunstan Munroe, 67, of Ajax, has been charged with fraud over $5,000 and counsel an uncommitted indictable offence.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-7310 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/immigration-consultant-charged-with-fraud
Kevin Connor
Published:
February 27, 2019
Updated:
February 27, 2019 11:33 AM EST
Dunstan Munroe, 67, of Ajax, has been charged with fraud over $5,000 and counsel an uncommitted indictable offence.
Toronto Police have arrested an immigration consultant for alleged fraud.
The owner of a company called Immigration Experts was working as a consultant last year and into 2019 to help clients become permanent residents of Canada. However, police say he had been suspended by the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council in December 2017 and had his licence revoked in January 2018.
Police say that in January of this year, it was discovered he hadn’t completed a female client’s application. They also allege he offered to sponsor a client and tell immigration he was in a common-law relationship with her.
Dunstan Munroe, 67, of Ajax, has been charged with fraud over $5,000 and counsel an uncommitted indictable offence.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-7310 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/immigration-consultant-charged-with-fraud
Quebec man facing deportation to Italy more than 20 years after Mafia-linked drug conviction gets reprieve
Canadian Press
Published:
February 28, 2019
Updated:
February 28, 2019 8:00 PM EST
Michele Torre is seen at his Laval, Que., home in this Sept. 8, 2016 file photo.Ryan Remiorz / THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — A Quebec man scheduled to be deported to Italy Thursday after being convicted more than 20 years ago for his role in a Mafia-linked drug importation has won a reprieve, his lawyer says.
Stephane Handfield says Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale issued the reprieve, which means Michele Torre can remain in Canada, at least for now.
Handfield was unable to confirm the reason or the length of the stay but said he hoped it would be similar to the two-year stay Torre was granted in 2016.
Torre, 67, was convicted in 1996 in a cocaine importation conspiracy linked to the Cotroni crime family and served part of a nearly nine-year prison sentence.
Federal authorities have sought since 2013 to remove Torre, who came to Canada more than 50 years ago, for “serious criminality and organized criminality.”
Story continues below
His lawyer and family have argued it is unfair to deport him so long after his last conviction, which now dates back 23 years. They say he should be able to stay because his wife has serious health problems.
Handfield said the stay of deportation came as a relief to his client. “When I spoke to him, it was very emotional, for his family too,” he said in a phone interview. “His children, his wife especially, are all relieved.”
Torre was granted permanent residency after arriving from Italy in 1967 as a teen — a status that was stripped after the process to remove him began. His inadmissibility emerged years after his conviction when he applied for Canadian citizenship so he could seek a pardon and travel more easily to the United States.
He has previously disputed the assertion he was “Mafia-affiliated” or a “foot soldier” tied to that crime network. He instead said he paid the price for following orders after a bar in which he worked fell under the control of organized crime.
In 2006, Torre again found himself swept up by police during a massive operation aimed at dismantling Montreal’s powerful Mafia. He spent nearly three years in custody but was ultimately acquitted.
The minister’s decision effectively overturns the decision of a Federal Court judge, who ruled on Tuesday against Torre’s request for a stay of the deportation order.
In refusing the request, the judge described Torre as “the author of his own misfortune” and rejected his arguments for staying in Canada, noting that his wife has nearly a dozen health professionals attending to her care and three adult children in Canada who could look after her.
It’s the second time Torre has been spared from deportation at the last minute. In 2016, he was granted a ministerial 90 minutes before his flight was set to depart.
Handfield said he is hoping “to resolve this situation once and for all” as he petitions to allow Torre to remain in Quebec permanently with his family on humanitarian grounds.
http://torontosun.com/news/crime/qu...er-mafia-linked-drug-conviction-gets-reprieve
Canadian Press
Published:
February 28, 2019
Updated:
February 28, 2019 8:00 PM EST
Michele Torre is seen at his Laval, Que., home in this Sept. 8, 2016 file photo.Ryan Remiorz / THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — A Quebec man scheduled to be deported to Italy Thursday after being convicted more than 20 years ago for his role in a Mafia-linked drug importation has won a reprieve, his lawyer says.
Stephane Handfield says Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale issued the reprieve, which means Michele Torre can remain in Canada, at least for now.
Handfield was unable to confirm the reason or the length of the stay but said he hoped it would be similar to the two-year stay Torre was granted in 2016.
Torre, 67, was convicted in 1996 in a cocaine importation conspiracy linked to the Cotroni crime family and served part of a nearly nine-year prison sentence.
Federal authorities have sought since 2013 to remove Torre, who came to Canada more than 50 years ago, for “serious criminality and organized criminality.”
Story continues below
His lawyer and family have argued it is unfair to deport him so long after his last conviction, which now dates back 23 years. They say he should be able to stay because his wife has serious health problems.
Handfield said the stay of deportation came as a relief to his client. “When I spoke to him, it was very emotional, for his family too,” he said in a phone interview. “His children, his wife especially, are all relieved.”
Torre was granted permanent residency after arriving from Italy in 1967 as a teen — a status that was stripped after the process to remove him began. His inadmissibility emerged years after his conviction when he applied for Canadian citizenship so he could seek a pardon and travel more easily to the United States.
He has previously disputed the assertion he was “Mafia-affiliated” or a “foot soldier” tied to that crime network. He instead said he paid the price for following orders after a bar in which he worked fell under the control of organized crime.
In 2006, Torre again found himself swept up by police during a massive operation aimed at dismantling Montreal’s powerful Mafia. He spent nearly three years in custody but was ultimately acquitted.
The minister’s decision effectively overturns the decision of a Federal Court judge, who ruled on Tuesday against Torre’s request for a stay of the deportation order.
In refusing the request, the judge described Torre as “the author of his own misfortune” and rejected his arguments for staying in Canada, noting that his wife has nearly a dozen health professionals attending to her care and three adult children in Canada who could look after her.
It’s the second time Torre has been spared from deportation at the last minute. In 2016, he was granted a ministerial 90 minutes before his flight was set to depart.
Handfield said he is hoping “to resolve this situation once and for all” as he petitions to allow Torre to remain in Quebec permanently with his family on humanitarian grounds.
http://torontosun.com/news/crime/qu...er-mafia-linked-drug-conviction-gets-reprieve
Group concerned about arrests of Indian students at fake university
Associated Press
Published:
March 8, 2019
Updated:
March 8, 2019 7:08 PM EST
This Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019 photo shows the building that was used as the fake University of Farmington campus by the federal government in Farmington Hills, Mich. (Eric Seals/Detroit Free Press via AP)
DETROIT — Officials from an Indian-American cultural group say they’re concerned about the arrests of Indian students who were enrolled at a phony university in Detroit that was created by the government to bust an immigration scam.
Federal authorities in January announced that the University of Farmington was fake and created by the Department of Homeland Security to catch people making money by helping foreigners live in the U.S. on student visas while enrolled at bogus schools.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested more than 160 foreign students on civil immigration violations, agency spokesman Khaalid Walls told the Detroit Free Press.
Many of the students have been removed from the country or are in the process of removal, Walls said. More students could be arrested or removed since enforcement action remains ongoing, he said.
Most of the 600 students enrolled were from Telugu-speaking regions of India. The Indian government has said it is closely monitoring the situation and expressed concerns that some of the students may have been duped by recruiters.
Story continues below
The hundreds of students who haven’t been arrested are worried about their futures and many have chosen to leave the country voluntarily, which could allow them to return to the U.S., according to immigration attorneys.
The American Telugu Association, which aims to connect people who speak Telugu and promote their culture, is struggling to track all of the students and is concerned about the conditions they’re facing in jail, said the group’s president, Parmesh Bheemreddy. Students are being housed at 34 detention centres across the U.S., the association said.
Many of the students have lost weight in detention because they’re vegetarians for cultural and religious reasons, Bheemreddy said. Most of the students come from poor backgrounds and had to take out loans to come to the U.S. and “pursue the American dream,” he said.
“These are innocent girls and boys,” Bheemreddy said of the students. “They’re not criminals. It’s mentally and physically torturing. It is a life-changing event for them.”
http://freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/03/08/ice-fake-university-farmington/3026214002
http://torontosun.com/news/world/group-concerned-about-arrests-of-indian-students-at-fake-university
Associated Press
Published:
March 8, 2019
Updated:
March 8, 2019 7:08 PM EST
This Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019 photo shows the building that was used as the fake University of Farmington campus by the federal government in Farmington Hills, Mich. (Eric Seals/Detroit Free Press via AP)
DETROIT — Officials from an Indian-American cultural group say they’re concerned about the arrests of Indian students who were enrolled at a phony university in Detroit that was created by the government to bust an immigration scam.
Federal authorities in January announced that the University of Farmington was fake and created by the Department of Homeland Security to catch people making money by helping foreigners live in the U.S. on student visas while enrolled at bogus schools.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested more than 160 foreign students on civil immigration violations, agency spokesman Khaalid Walls told the Detroit Free Press.
Many of the students have been removed from the country or are in the process of removal, Walls said. More students could be arrested or removed since enforcement action remains ongoing, he said.
Most of the 600 students enrolled were from Telugu-speaking regions of India. The Indian government has said it is closely monitoring the situation and expressed concerns that some of the students may have been duped by recruiters.
Story continues below
The hundreds of students who haven’t been arrested are worried about their futures and many have chosen to leave the country voluntarily, which could allow them to return to the U.S., according to immigration attorneys.
The American Telugu Association, which aims to connect people who speak Telugu and promote their culture, is struggling to track all of the students and is concerned about the conditions they’re facing in jail, said the group’s president, Parmesh Bheemreddy. Students are being housed at 34 detention centres across the U.S., the association said.
Many of the students have lost weight in detention because they’re vegetarians for cultural and religious reasons, Bheemreddy said. Most of the students come from poor backgrounds and had to take out loans to come to the U.S. and “pursue the American dream,” he said.
“These are innocent girls and boys,” Bheemreddy said of the students. “They’re not criminals. It’s mentally and physically torturing. It is a life-changing event for them.”
http://freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/03/08/ice-fake-university-farmington/3026214002
http://torontosun.com/news/world/group-concerned-about-arrests-of-indian-students-at-fake-university
Failed Iraqi asylum-seeker on trial for rape, murder of girl in Germany
Associated Press
Published:
March 12, 2019
Updated:
March 12, 2019 12:58 PM EDT
Failed Iraqi asylum seeker Ali Bashar (inset) is accused in the murder of Susanna Maria FeldmanPOLIZEI WIESBADEN/HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images / BORIS ROESSLER/AFP/Getty Images
BERLIN — A rejected Iraqi asylum-seeker admitted killing a 14-year-old local girl as he went on trial in Germany Tuesday in a case that fuelled tensions over migration. He denied raping her.
The 22-year-old Ali Bashar is accused of assaulting and murdering Susanna Feldman in the western city of Wiesbaden in May. Bashar and his family abruptly left a home for asylum applicants in Germany after the killing, and he was later extradited from Iraq.
The defendant admitted to the Wiesbaden state court as his trial opened that he killed the girl, news agency dpa reported.
German police say Iraqi suspect confessed to killing girl
“I don’t know how this could happen,” he said through an interpreter. He said that they had had consensual sex before the killing.
Bashar said he had met the girl through a mutual acquaintance about three months previously, that they had often spent time together and he hadn’t known how old she was.
Story continues below
There are no formal pleas in the German legal system. The trial is scheduled to last at least until early May.
Bashar is believed to have arrived in Germany in October 2015, at the height of the migrant influx to the country, and was appealing the rejection of his asylum application at the time of the killing.
http://torontosun.com/news/crime/fa...r-on-trial-for-rape-murder-of-girl-in-germany
Associated Press
Published:
March 12, 2019
Updated:
March 12, 2019 12:58 PM EDT
Failed Iraqi asylum seeker Ali Bashar (inset) is accused in the murder of Susanna Maria FeldmanPOLIZEI WIESBADEN/HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images / BORIS ROESSLER/AFP/Getty Images
BERLIN — A rejected Iraqi asylum-seeker admitted killing a 14-year-old local girl as he went on trial in Germany Tuesday in a case that fuelled tensions over migration. He denied raping her.
The 22-year-old Ali Bashar is accused of assaulting and murdering Susanna Feldman in the western city of Wiesbaden in May. Bashar and his family abruptly left a home for asylum applicants in Germany after the killing, and he was later extradited from Iraq.
The defendant admitted to the Wiesbaden state court as his trial opened that he killed the girl, news agency dpa reported.
German police say Iraqi suspect confessed to killing girl
“I don’t know how this could happen,” he said through an interpreter. He said that they had had consensual sex before the killing.
Bashar said he had met the girl through a mutual acquaintance about three months previously, that they had often spent time together and he hadn’t known how old she was.
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There are no formal pleas in the German legal system. The trial is scheduled to last at least until early May.
Bashar is believed to have arrived in Germany in October 2015, at the height of the migrant influx to the country, and was appealing the rejection of his asylum application at the time of the killing.
http://torontosun.com/news/crime/fa...r-on-trial-for-rape-murder-of-girl-in-germany
Halifax home where 7 kids died in fire demolished
Canadian Press
Published:
March 13, 2019
Updated:
March 13, 2019 4:53 PM EDT
Firefighters investigate following a house fire in the Spryfield community in Halifax on Tuesday, February 19, 2019. Three weeks after a fast-moving house fire killed seven young members of a Syrian refugee family, the charred remains of their home in suburban Halifax has been torn down.Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX — Three weeks after a fast-moving house fire killed seven young members of a Syrian refugee family, the charred remains of their suburban Halifax home have been torn down.
Neighbour Nicole Snook, whose home is down the street from where the Barho family lived, said the two-storey house was demolished without warning on Tuesday.
“It was quite a shock,” said Snook, who has young children of her own.
“Even though I saw it every day, what happened there was so unspeakable — it’s so hard to comprehend.”
Embraheim and Kawthar Barho came with their children to Canada in September 2017. At first, they lived in rural Elmsdale, N.S., but they had recently moved to the neighbourhood of Spryfield to take advantage of immigrant services, including English-language training.
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Early on Feb. 19, their relatively new rental home caught fire. The flames spread so quickly that only the parents managed to escape, though Embraheim is still recovering from extensive burns.
All seven of their children, who ranged in age from three months to the mid-teens, died in the home.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
A GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $700,000 for the family.
All that remains at the grim site on Quartz Drive is the concrete foundation.
Photos on social media show a huge mound of stuffed toys piled against a utility pole on the property’s edge.
Snook, who was left badly shaken by the tragedy, said she had planned on setting aside a few moments to pause outside the home, pay her respects and seek some form of closure.
But with her family to care for and a constant stream of curious onlookers on the street, she never got around to that simple ritual.
“I needed to go there to have a moment … (But) I never had an opportunity because there’s been a parade of people coming and going,” she said in an interview Wednesday.
“I wanted a bit of a private moment. But there’s been no privacy at all … People come and go from the front and the back non-stop.”
Snook said most of her neighbours are probably relieved now that the house is gone.
And the number of gawkers has dropped over the past week.
However, she said many of those who showed up to gaze upon the wrecked house probably had good reasons for doing so.
“I think most people needed to go and pay their respects and some just needed to see it,” she said.
“We’re tangible, physical beings. When something like this happens, that punctures people to the very core of what it means to be human. We need something to touch, to see — to somehow make sense of something that’s so senseless.”
The Barho family were among 1,795 Syrian refugees who have come to Nova Scotia in recent years.
http://gofundme.com/spryfield-fire-disaster-support
http://torontosun.com/news/national/halifax-home-where-7-kids-died-in-fire-demolished
Canadian Press
Published:
March 13, 2019
Updated:
March 13, 2019 4:53 PM EDT
Firefighters investigate following a house fire in the Spryfield community in Halifax on Tuesday, February 19, 2019. Three weeks after a fast-moving house fire killed seven young members of a Syrian refugee family, the charred remains of their home in suburban Halifax has been torn down.Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX — Three weeks after a fast-moving house fire killed seven young members of a Syrian refugee family, the charred remains of their suburban Halifax home have been torn down.
Neighbour Nicole Snook, whose home is down the street from where the Barho family lived, said the two-storey house was demolished without warning on Tuesday.
“It was quite a shock,” said Snook, who has young children of her own.
“Even though I saw it every day, what happened there was so unspeakable — it’s so hard to comprehend.”
Embraheim and Kawthar Barho came with their children to Canada in September 2017. At first, they lived in rural Elmsdale, N.S., but they had recently moved to the neighbourhood of Spryfield to take advantage of immigrant services, including English-language training.
Story continues below
Early on Feb. 19, their relatively new rental home caught fire. The flames spread so quickly that only the parents managed to escape, though Embraheim is still recovering from extensive burns.
All seven of their children, who ranged in age from three months to the mid-teens, died in the home.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
A GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $700,000 for the family.
All that remains at the grim site on Quartz Drive is the concrete foundation.
Photos on social media show a huge mound of stuffed toys piled against a utility pole on the property’s edge.
Snook, who was left badly shaken by the tragedy, said she had planned on setting aside a few moments to pause outside the home, pay her respects and seek some form of closure.
But with her family to care for and a constant stream of curious onlookers on the street, she never got around to that simple ritual.
“I needed to go there to have a moment … (But) I never had an opportunity because there’s been a parade of people coming and going,” she said in an interview Wednesday.
“I wanted a bit of a private moment. But there’s been no privacy at all … People come and go from the front and the back non-stop.”
Snook said most of her neighbours are probably relieved now that the house is gone.
And the number of gawkers has dropped over the past week.
However, she said many of those who showed up to gaze upon the wrecked house probably had good reasons for doing so.
“I think most people needed to go and pay their respects and some just needed to see it,” she said.
“We’re tangible, physical beings. When something like this happens, that punctures people to the very core of what it means to be human. We need something to touch, to see — to somehow make sense of something that’s so senseless.”
The Barho family were among 1,795 Syrian refugees who have come to Nova Scotia in recent years.
http://gofundme.com/spryfield-fire-disaster-support
http://torontosun.com/news/national/halifax-home-where-7-kids-died-in-fire-demolished
'HER SOUL WAS CAPTURED': Pimp gets five years for trafficking 16-year-old girl
Sam Pazzano Courts Bureau
Published:
March 14, 2019
Updated:
March 14, 2019 8:54 AM EDT
Henry Borrego
A 16-year-old human trafficking victim says her ordeal left her so depressed it felt as if “her soul was captured,” a court has heard.
Henry Borrego was sentenced to a mandatory minimum of five years in prison Wednesday for coercing the school girl into the sex trade for an 18-day period.
The victim says the degrading experience squandered her “innocence.”
Borrego, 25, pleaded guilty last fall to one count of human trafficking of a minor in March 2016. Given credit for time he has already served behind bars since his arrest, Borrego has 20 1/2 months left to go of his sentence.
Justice John McMahon said the victim — whose identity is covered by a publication ban — was a “high school student whom Borrego coerced into the sexual trade.
Story continues below
‘Monsters’ behind China-linked sex ring that snared Pats owner
Surf-and-turf inmate a gang leader and gun trafficker
DEPRAVED DAWN: Cop watched child pornography explode
“It’s extremely aggravating the degree of planning used to get the victim by having her girlfriend set up a phone call,” said McMahon. Borrego picked her up in his vehicle under the ruse of giving her a lift to her friend’s home, but he seized control of her, court heard.
Borrego took the victim’s cellphone, created and posted ads, set the rates and restrictions and ordered the teen to accept clients that wanted anal sex, said Crown attorney Corie Langdon in reading an agreed statement of facts.
“You’re pretty, you can make a lot of money, as long as you don’t disobey me,” Langdon quoted Borrego as telling the victim. “She told the accused she wasn’t interested.”
The career criminal, who has convictions for assault, drug trafficking and robbery, wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“I was isolated from my friends and family, which gave me a feeling of depression like my soul was captured,” the teen stated in a victim-impact statement which was submitted to court.
She serviced an elderly man at a retirement home for $120 and slept with 10 clients at a low-end downtown Toronto hotel over one five-day period, earning Borrego $1,000, said Langdon. The victim escaped by e-mailing her boyfriend from the hotel computer.
Borrego, who emigrated with his single mom from Chile as a five-year-old, earned his high school diploma in jail and vowed to become a law-abiding lifestyle.
“Mr. Borrego is very remorseful for his role and has been doing everything in his power to distance himself from the man he used to be,” said his lawyer Gavin Holder.
spazzano@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/news/crime/pimp-gets-five-years-for-trafficking-16-year-old-girl
Sam Pazzano Courts Bureau
Published:
March 14, 2019
Updated:
March 14, 2019 8:54 AM EDT
Henry Borrego
A 16-year-old human trafficking victim says her ordeal left her so depressed it felt as if “her soul was captured,” a court has heard.
Henry Borrego was sentenced to a mandatory minimum of five years in prison Wednesday for coercing the school girl into the sex trade for an 18-day period.
The victim says the degrading experience squandered her “innocence.”
Borrego, 25, pleaded guilty last fall to one count of human trafficking of a minor in March 2016. Given credit for time he has already served behind bars since his arrest, Borrego has 20 1/2 months left to go of his sentence.
Justice John McMahon said the victim — whose identity is covered by a publication ban — was a “high school student whom Borrego coerced into the sexual trade.
Story continues below
‘Monsters’ behind China-linked sex ring that snared Pats owner
Surf-and-turf inmate a gang leader and gun trafficker
DEPRAVED DAWN: Cop watched child pornography explode
“It’s extremely aggravating the degree of planning used to get the victim by having her girlfriend set up a phone call,” said McMahon. Borrego picked her up in his vehicle under the ruse of giving her a lift to her friend’s home, but he seized control of her, court heard.
Borrego took the victim’s cellphone, created and posted ads, set the rates and restrictions and ordered the teen to accept clients that wanted anal sex, said Crown attorney Corie Langdon in reading an agreed statement of facts.
“You’re pretty, you can make a lot of money, as long as you don’t disobey me,” Langdon quoted Borrego as telling the victim. “She told the accused she wasn’t interested.”
The career criminal, who has convictions for assault, drug trafficking and robbery, wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“I was isolated from my friends and family, which gave me a feeling of depression like my soul was captured,” the teen stated in a victim-impact statement which was submitted to court.
She serviced an elderly man at a retirement home for $120 and slept with 10 clients at a low-end downtown Toronto hotel over one five-day period, earning Borrego $1,000, said Langdon. The victim escaped by e-mailing her boyfriend from the hotel computer.
Borrego, who emigrated with his single mom from Chile as a five-year-old, earned his high school diploma in jail and vowed to become a law-abiding lifestyle.
“Mr. Borrego is very remorseful for his role and has been doing everything in his power to distance himself from the man he used to be,” said his lawyer Gavin Holder.
spazzano@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/news/crime/pimp-gets-five-years-for-trafficking-16-year-old-girl