A 15-year-old Syrian refugee seen being pushed to the ground and having water poured on his face in a video shared on social media has said he will not return to the school where the incident took place.
Footage of the playground incident, which occurred at Almondbury community school on 25 October, went viral on Tuesday night. Since then, fresh footage has emerged that is said to show the boy’s sister being physically abused at the same school.
On November 29 afternoon around 30 protesters took part in a peaceful demonstration outside the school organised by the Huddersfield Pakistani Community Alliance. Four of the group then had a meeting with the school’s headteacher, Trevor Bowen.
The boy, who can be identified only as Jamal, and his father briefly made an appearance at the protest and thanked the local community for their support. The father added: “Thank you to Pakistan. Thanks to everyone.”
Speaking at his home, Jamal told the Guardian that he and his sister would not be returning to classes. “We are not going back to the school. We are just talking about what we are going to do now,” he said.
The couple’s 14-year-old daughter had been bullied by another group of pupils, and last week someone had forcibly removed her hijab. On Tuesday a girl was excluded from the school over that incident.
Source: The Guardian
