After Paris attacks, Montreal anti-radicalization centre sends a reminder
Since it opened in March, centre has alerted police to 6 cases that has possible imminent danger
In light of the Paris attacks, Montreal's anti-radicalization centre is reminding people that it offers 24/7 support to families concerned about loved ones who could be turning toward extremism.
Since it opened last March, the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence has received 368 calls on its hotline. Out of those, 90 resulted in direct support to families.
Six cases were deemed serious enough that the centre alerted the police.
"Otherwise we work with individuals to disengage them from violence," said Meriem Rebbani-Gosselin, liaison officer for the centre.
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Following the deadly assaults on the France capital on Friday, the centre has reached out to media to remind Montrealers it's there.
"We believe that prevention is the most important thing that we can do to prevent these kinds of events," Rebbani-Gosslein said.
"We want to prevent before it reaches this point, this really catastrophic point."
I caught my son on the Internet watching a jihadist website that shows how to create bombs.- A father who called the hotline, according to the centre's director
The centre doesn't disclose details on cases for privacy reasons. But in the six that were handed over to the RCMP, the centre believed the security of the individual or the community could be at risk.
"It was a case where the dad said, 'Listen, my son has been radicalized, I caught him on the Internet watching a jihadist website that shows how to create bombs. Also, he has a passport without my knowledge '," Herman Deparice-Okomba, the director of the centre, told Radio-Canada.
If no imminent danger is seen, case workers, who speak several languages, meet with the family, gather information on the youth, and draw an intervention plan that may include other organizations.
"On our end, we always do a follow up on all the cases that we get. We do have different protocols with the police services so that nobody falls in the cracks," Rebbani-Gosselin said.
The centre's phone numbers are 1-877-687-7141 or 514-687-7141. They are open 24 hours a day and all calls are confidential.
With files from Bahador Zabihiyan of Radio-Canada.