• About
  • Join/Donate
  • Contact
Friday, April 23, 2021
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
The Brief
NB MEDIA CO-OP
Share a story
  • New Brunswick
  • Canada
  • World
  • Environment
  • Indigenous
  • Labour
  • Gender
  • Politics
  • Arts & Culture
  • Videos
  • COVID-19
  • New Brunswick
  • Canada
  • World
  • Environment
  • Indigenous
  • Labour
  • Gender
  • Politics
  • Arts & Culture
  • Videos
  • COVID-19
No Result
View All Result
NB MEDIA CO-OP
No Result
View All Result
Home *Opinion*

Refugees Welcome Fredericton condemns The Rebel and the Toronto Sun’s anti-refugee, anti-migrant bias

by Refugees Welcome Fredericton
July 14, 2016
Reading Time: 3min read

Refugees Welcome Fredericton condemns the coverage by The Rebel and the Toronto Sun, media outlets that are backed by outspoken conservative anti-immigration pundit Ezra Levant, as promoting racism, xenophobia and islamophobia while lacking evidence for its outrageous claims regarding Syrian refugees at the Fredericton High School (FHS) in New Brunswick. Refugees Welcome Fredericton, a working group of No One Is Illegal Fredericton, is a refugee and migrant solidarity organization that supports the struggles of refugees, migrant workers and indigenous peoples.

The Rebel claims that it has email correspondence between educators through a right to information request that supports its accusations of “Sexual harassment. Bullying. Picking on the Jewish kids. Threatening and swearing at teachers. Talking about terrorist weapons, like rocket propelled grenades.” The Rebel has hidden these documents and most of its article behind a paywall, requiring a paid subscription to access this content. However, Refugees Welcome Fredericton was able to access the documents through a temporary free trial and review them, finding no truth in these accusations.

A preliminary search of keywords revealed no statements suggesting that adult refugees were being mixed with children, and considering that all gendering language has been blacked out it is impossible to prove that adult men have been interacting with young girls in any way, much less sexually assaulting them! Furthermore, there was no mention of sexual harassment in the documents. There is also no evidence that refugees were receiving any sort of special treatment or that Syrian children were “excited” after hearing about ISIS attacks.

The Rebel alleges that Syrian students did not face consequences for skipping classes at FHS, when in fact there are multiple emails in the information request showing education staff discussing the issuing of detention for these transgressions and how to explain the importance of regular attendance to the students.

The Rebel tries to incite fear around the refugees as old as twenty taking classes at FHS, while only a small number of the refugees at this high school are this age and they work with an Educational Assistant at all times to aid in their educational goals. The older students were not able to complete secondary school in their country of origin (a common problem in places ravaged by war). Their education should be supported and not shamed.

The Rebel also implies that students are refusing to learn English. When the problem of some refugees experiencing difficulty with the English language was identified, Arabic translators were brought to the high school. In fact, multiple correspondences highlighted both the students’ prioritization of learning English and the administration’s desire to facilitate the learning of the language.

While we welcome more investigation by media into the outrageous claims, we can say with confidence that the accusations made by The Rebel and the Toronto Sun appear to be unfounded. David McTimoney, superintendent of Anglophone West School District, was quoted on CTV (July 8, 2016) claiming that the reports were exaggerated and sensationalized.

We condemn this blatant misrepresentation of the situation in our community and the anti-refugee and anti-migrant backlash it seems intent on inciting. Recent attacks on Muslim women in Canada, racial profiling and brutality by the police and the criminalization of indigenous land defenders are a very dangerous reality for members of our community. These hateful acts are fuelled by racist and fear-mongering media.

We support students, educators, and settlement workers in their efforts to aid in the settlement of new refugees and migrants here in Fredericton and call for continuing public solidarity in response to offensive and racist coverage of these settlement efforts.

Tags: mediamedia analysisracismrefugeerefugeesRefugees Welcome Frederictonslider
ShareTweetSend

Related Posts

Is there an erosion of refugee rights in Canada? [video]
Canada

Is there an erosion of refugee rights in Canada? [video]

April 17, 2021

No One Is Illegal-Fredericton marked Refugee Rights Day a few days later on April 8, 2021 with a panel discussion...

“Racism exists in New Brunswick: We must use that word”
Gender

“Racism exists in New Brunswick: We must use that word”

April 2, 2021

In February, for Black History Month, we received a message from Assia Hussein asking us to act more concretely. We...

George Floyd: My vested interest, my responsibility, and the tragedy of American history
New Brunswick

George Floyd: My vested interest, my responsibility, and the tragedy of American history

March 31, 2021

An element of all criminal trials is about protecting each member of the body politic. In the Anglo-Saxon legal tradition...

*Opinion*

We need to author our own stories: a letter from the NB Media Co-op boards

March 26, 2021

Dear NB Media Co-op members, supporters and readers, First, we want to thank all of you for the support and...

Load More

Recommended

‘Not in service’ – Province of New Brunswick’s response to many residents of unincorporated areas

‘Not in service’ – Province of New Brunswick’s response to many residents of unincorporated areas

3 days ago
Is there an erosion of refugee rights in Canada? [video]

Is there an erosion of refugee rights in Canada? [video]

6 days ago
Fredericton mayoral candidates answer questions on housing, heritage, police and transportation from the public [video]

Fredericton mayoral candidates answer questions on housing, heritage, police and transportation from the public [video]

3 days ago
Victory for feminist economic policy

Victory for feminist economic policy

3 days ago
NB Media Co-op

© 2019 NB Media Co-op. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Join/Donate
  • Contact
  • Share a Story
  • Calendar
  • Archives

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • Join/Donate
  • Contact
  • Share a Story
  • COVID-19
  • Videos
  • New Brunswick
  • Canada
  • World
  • Arts & Culture
  • Environment
  • Indigenous
  • Labour
  • Politics
  • Rural

© 2019 NB Media Co-op. All rights reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In