Girl’s death shines light on difficulties refugee families face

CALGARY— A Calgary Syrian refugee family is dealing with the tragic death of their 9-year-old daughter, who they say died by suicide after being bullied at school.

Aref Alshteiwi discovered his daughter Amal’s body March 6, according to Sam Nammoura, co-founder of Calgary Immigrant Support Society. Nammoura has worked with the family, and details of Amal’s death were relayed to him by the parents.

Police conducted more than a dozen interviews following Amal’s death and found no evidence of foul play, according to Calgary Police Service.

Amal’s parents told Nammoura that Amal had been coming home from school upset, telling them she was being bullied. The parents told Nammoura they raised the issue with the school, but that their daughter didn’t get any help. Nammoura wasn’t aware of the issues Amal was having until after she died.

In an emailed statement, the Calgary Board of Education said it is working with the school’s staff and students “to try to understand if there were concerns or issues.” The family eventually moved schools to try to get Amal away from the bullying. Before she left, Nammoura said Amal was told by her bullies that moving wouldn’t fix anything.

Four days after she switched schools, Amal’s father found the girl dead in her room. Nammoura said that as is the case with many of the refugee and immigrant families he works with, he thinks the parents felt pressure not to complain. That, combined with their language barrier, prevented them from seeking further help, he said.

Nammoura said the family feel Amal’s-death could have been prevented with the right support and he hopes to raise awareness of the fact that immigrant families have the same rights to support as any other Canadian citizen.