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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.