Refugee brothers ‘attacked in street’
TWO Syrian refugee brothers say they were attacked in the street and told to “get out of my country” by a large group of teenagers.
Oday and Qusay Brouk, aged 17 and 13, say they have been left deeply affected by the alleged attack in Bridgend town centre which saw a knife being pulled on them and Oday being grabbed by the neck.
South Wales Police said a 16-yearold boy has been arrested on suspicion of affray after being called to a disturbance involving a number of youths at around 4.30pm on Sunday. The teenager has since been bailed.
The brothers’ dad, Mohammad, who claims he was also pushed and hit when he tried to intervene outside their home, says he is now so worried about their safety that he wants to move out.
Translating with the help of a friend, the father-of five, who has lived in the town for nearly three years, said: “I would rather go back and take a risk in Syria than this happening outside the house. If I hadn’t been here, they would have stabbed him with a knife.
“When I came to this country, I was so happy I was crying because I was safe. Yesterday, I cried I was here. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have stayed in Syria.”
The Brouk family left Homs, in Syria, four years and eight months ago after half of their family was killed in the civil war engulfing the country, including Mohammad’s three brothers. They spent time in Lebanon and Turkey before applying for refugee status to the United Nations and being brought to the UK two years and eight months ago.
On Sunday afternoon, the Brouk brothers say they went to the gym with two friends who are also Syrian and, on the way back, they walked to the bus station with their friends who live in Porthcawl.
As the bus was going to be another hour, they sat outside the bus station feeding bread to the birds, but a large group of teenagers approached them and started swearing and making rude gestures to them.
Bridgend College pupil Oday said: “We were ignoring them but they carried on. One of the boys grabbed me from my throat and I tried to push him away, but he didn’t let go so I hit him. He was hurting me, I was nearly not breathing.”
The boys said they then decided to go and, on the way back, Oday rang his father to let him know they were being followed and being told things like “get out of my country”. At one point, they say one of the group pulled out a small knife.
Oday says he has also been called a terrorist in college.
In a statement, South Wales Police said officers were called to a disturbance involving a number of youths in Llynfi Street at around 4.30pm on Sunday. The statement added: “A 16-year-old boy was arrested at the scene on suspicion of affray, and has since been bailed until October 27.”