pepper spray
© ReutersWitnesses say the pepper spray incident has left many of the newly arrived refugees shaken
Around 30 people including children have been treated after being hit with pepper spray at a refugee welcome event in Canada Friday.

The incident occurred as a group of newly arrived refugees and locals were waiting for a bus outside the Muslim Association of Canada Center in Vancouver.

"The motive for the pepper spraying is unknown at this time," Sgt. Randy Fincham said in a statement.

Event goer Ammar Ramadan told CBC the incident had left many of the newly arrived refugees shaken.

"A guy at the front actually was, like, his eyes were completely covered, he couldn't see for a whole, like, 20 minutes. Some kids got unconscious because of how strong it was," he said.

Witnesses say the suspect left the scene on a bicycle.


Comment: Heartless coward.


The welcome event was held as Canada vows to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees by mid January.

The government had previously vowed to reach that figure by new year, but by January 1 had only taken in 6000.

However, the pledge to boost refugee intake has marked a dramatic shift in policy between the government of current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his predecessor Stephen Harper.

Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to power in October, his Liberal government has touted an ambitious refugee plan, which would include bringing in 25,000 refugees.

The plan would also include a robust screening process to ensure that no one accepted to Canada presents any threat, according to the government.