Coat of Arms for Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Photo: RCMP By Douglas Quan and Tiffany Crawford
A British Columbia man accused of taking up arms in Syria has become the first person to be charged under a new Canadian law targeting people who travel for terrorist purposes.
The RCMP announced Wednesday that Hasibullah Yusufzai, 25, of Burnaby, B.C., was charged on July 17 for leaving Canada to commit an offence “for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group.”
“The individual is known to have travelled to Syria to join Islamist fighters,” RCMP Sgt. Greg Cox said in a statement.
The whereabouts of Yusufzai, who left Canada on Jan. 21, are not known.
The so-called “foreign fighter” phenomenon has become a growing concern for Canada’s intelligence community. Several Canadians have reportedly died while fighting overseas.
In May, Mohamed Hersi became the first person in Canada to be convicted under a different set of laws for attempting to participate in a terrorist activity and for providing counsel to a person to participate in a terrorist activity. Prosecutors had said the 28-year-old Toronto man was attempting to join the Somali militant group al-Shabab when he was stopped at Pearson International Airport. Hersi is due for sentencing Thursday.
The RCMP said Wednesday they learned of Yusufzai’s departure only after he had left the country. They would not reveal who tipped them off or what activities he is believed to have engaged in overseas.
Several radicalized Canadians have joined the Islamic State, the ultra-extremist group that now controls a swath of Iraq and Syria.
In a video released by the Islamic State earlier this month, André Poulin, a troubled Timmins, Ont. youth who died in Syria last August, appealed to Canadians to join the fight to impose a radical Islamist state on the region’s inhabitants.
At a townhouse complex in Burnaby, a couple who identified themselves as Yusufzai’s parents, would not entertain any questions. The father, dressed in a traditional Muslim white thobe, became visibly agitated when asked about his son and shouted “no English, go, go, go,” before slamming the door.
Neighbour John Carscadden said he’s lived next door to the Yusufzai family for about three or four years and described them as a very nice, quiet family.
“They are nice boys,” he said of brothers Roh and Hasibullah Yusufzai. “They helped me up the stairs with my groceries.”
He said Hasibullah had worked as a security guard but then left the country about seven months ago. He didn’t know where he went.
“They are very nice folks,” he said, adding that he was surprised to hear of the charges.
Yusufzai is the first person in Canada to be charged under new Criminal Code provisions that came into effect after the passage last year of Bill S-7: the Combatting Terrorism Act. He faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted.
“This investigation underscores the reality that there are individuals leaving Canada to take part in terrorist activity. Further, it highlights the fact that new legislation introduced under Bill S-7, which came into effect in July 2013, enhances our ability to combat terrorist activity,” RCMP Assistant Commissioner James Malizia said in a prepared statement.
Earlier this year, the director of Canada’s spy agency, CSIS, testified before a parliamentary committee that the agency was aware of more than 130 Canadians abroad who were believed to be supporting extremist activities. Michel Coulombe said about 30 were in Syria. Others are believed to have gone to Somalia, Yemen and North and East Africa.
A CSIS spokeswoman said Wednesday that the numbers have not changed.
Intelligence officials are concerned that these individuals could return to Canada more radicalized than when they left, bringing with them “operational skills” that can be deployed themselves or taught to fellow Canadian extremists.
Speaking notes for the CSIS director obtained by Postmedia News earlier this year showed that the agency was aware of about 80 Canadians who had returned home after going abroad for “terrorist purposes.” The document made it clear though that not all took part in paramilitary activities.
Christianne Boudreau, the mother of Damian Clairmont, the young Calgary man killed while fighting with al-Qaida-linked rebel fighters in Syria several months ago, said Wednesday that the federal government needs to do more to raise awareness of youth radicalization in communities.
“I was blindsided, but if I had the knowledge I have now then I could’ve watched for it,” she said.
She said there also needs to be more effort aimed at quashing online propaganda sites.
Federal public safety officials have been holding regular community outreach events with Muslim communities to discuss ways to counter violent extremism.
While those meetings have been focused in southern Ontario, the government is planning further events in “a number of cities,” officials said last month, stressing that family, friends, teachers and religious leaders all need to play a role.
With files from Stewart Bell, National Post
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