Islamists on Welfare: Paid to Plot the West's Demise
by Kathy Shaidle
Pajamas Media
April 4, 2011In 2008, the Toronto Sun reported that "hundreds of [Greater Toronto Area] Muslim men in polygamous marriages — some with a harem of wives — are receiving welfare and social benefits for each of their spouses, thanks to the city and province, Muslim leaders say."
"Polygamy is a regular part of life for many Muslims," Canadian Society of Muslims president Mumtaz Ali declared bluntly. "Ontario recognizes religious marriages for Muslims and others."
Government officials quickly denied the Muslim leader's claims about immigration law and social benefits regulations. Only one public servant seemed sufficiently concerned. "This is wrong," said city councilor Rob Ford. "They should put a stop to this immediately."
Instead, welfare abuse by Muslims appears to have metastasized across the Western world. Almost three years later, news stories about radical Muslims — often immigrants — engaged in social benefits scams emerge regularly from Europe, Canada, and Australia. Even when they are not involved in fraud, Muslims frequently are overrepresented on welfare rolls, compared with other communities. The statistics from around the globe are jaw-dropping, especially in economically uncertain times.
According to one 2007 source, immigration, of which Muslims comprise a significant part, "costs Sweden at least 40 to 50 billion Swedish kroner [approximately $7 billion] every year … and has greatly contributed to bringing the Swedish welfare state to the brink of bankruptcy." Yet two years earlier, the country's finance minister declared counterintuitively that "more immigrants should be allowed into Sweden in order to safeguard the welfare system."
One Iranian immigrant to Sweden expressed astonishment at his new country's policies: "In Sweden my family encountered a political system that seemed very strange. The interpreter told us that Sweden is a country where the government will put a check into your mailbox each month if you don't work. She explained that there was no reason to get a job." ...
Meanwhile, Canada's most famous welfare recipients — Muslim or otherwise — remain the Khadrs. Confessed war criminal Omar Khadr still resides in Guantanamo Bay, having pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan in 2002. However, his extended family members, all of whom share his radical views, continue to live on welfare in a Toronto suburb.
Despite the public outrage provoked by the Toronto Sun in 2008, little evidence suggests that the situation has improved in Canada. In early 2011, the Mounties charged Ahmad El-Akhal, a Quebec immigration consultant, with "providing Canadian citizenship documents to hundreds of people in the Middle East so they could collect benefits and tax refunds" to the tune of $500,000. Adding an original twist on the venerable scam, none of the individuals receiving benefits actually lived in Canada. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the scheme had been going on since 1999.
This author contacted the officials originally quoted in that Toronto Sun report to ask what is being done about welfare abuse by Muslims. The office of Rob Ford, who is now Toronto mayor, never replied to inquiries. Just one individual, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Community and Social Services, responded — but only with a boilerplate email. Rebecca MacKenzie explained that the ministry is "not able to provide comment on specific cases due to privacy concerns," adding that they "take allegations of fraud very seriously."
Seriousness is long overdue. As an Islamist Watch blog post from 2009 put it, "Only one adjective properly describes a government that funds those who seek its destruction: suicidal."
Why do I have the feeling the situation is no different in BC than in, say Toronto? Been around Yaletown lately? Its like walking around in Bradford. Just sayin'.
