Saudi students in Kansas concerned for their safety | World Defense

Saudi students in Kansas concerned for their safety

BLACKEAGLE

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Saudi students in Kansas concerned for their safety
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With a new semester starting, Saudi students are planning to stay closely together. (via Jimmy Emerson, Flickr)

By Nicolla Hewitt | Saudi Gazette
Tuesday, 11 August 2015

Saudi students returning for their fall semester at Wichita State University in Kansas are having major concerns for their safety — both on and off their campus.

Their worries come following the apparent murder of a 23-year-old student from Makkah who was found with shotgun wounds on the parking lot campus this past weekend.

The victim — who hasn’t been officially identified — died in hospital a few hours later due to his injuries. Approximately 500 students from the Kingdom study in Wichita.

Speaking exclusively to Saudi Gazette, Munthatar Al-Hassan, who heads the Saudi Student Association in Kansas, said: “We know the person who was shot as a new student to Wichita State.

He recently transferred from Oregon. We are just so sorry, and now we are all worried about our safety. I had heard Wichita was dangerous, but this is the third person to be killed here in less than a year. Now we are really worried, and we don’t want our families to worry too.”

The dead student hasn’t been officially identified pending next of kin intimation. Wichita has a population of over 300,000, and is the largest city in the state of Kansas.

'We wish we had more security here'
Calls to four separate police departments in Wichita were not returned to the Saudi Gazette at the time this story was filed.

However a Saudi official at the U.S. Embassy in Washington told Saudi Gazette that when crimes like this happen, the name of the victim and more specific details of the crime are often withheld until a family relative arrives to the United States from the Kingdom.

With a new semester starting, 23-year-old Munthatar Al-Hassan, who’s studying Health Science, said all Saudi students are now planning to stay closely together, “So we can feel more safe.”

He added: “None of us are going to go out late at night, and most of us have all moved off campus. We wish we had more security here.

Last year a Saudi student had a knife pulled at his neck when he was trying to ride the subway. We all knew Wichita wasn’t safe.

But the fact is we need to study and we need to try and stay safe.” Sadly random gun violence in the United States seems to be happening more often.

In recent months there have been shootings in churches, schools and movie theaters. It’s something that saddens Munthatar, who lead a group of volunteer Saudi students to help clean up downtown Wichita.

“Everyone looks at the U.S. as a safe country. Everyone thinks it’s fine. But is different and we need more security.”

Last Update: Tuesday, 11 August 2015 KSA 13:37 - GMT 10:37
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/features/2015/08/11/Saudi-students-in-Kansas-concerned-for-their-safety.html
 

Falcon29

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I don't understand how you attend an university and willing to throw your life away by murdering someone based on his nationality. How low and pathetic. I never been to Kansas so I'm not sure how it is there. But I've to states with lots of whites, like Indiania. The people were very friendly there, some of the friendliest and kindest people. I had no problems with them. It really matters about appearance, if a Muslim woman is recognized by her hijab then that is what the bigots look after or very foreign looking people.
 

LilAnn

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I don't blame them. I would be afraid, too. I hope they do stick close together. Safety in numbers, right?


I don't understand how you attend an university and willing to throw your life away by murdering someone based on his nationality. How low and pathetic. I never been to Kansas so I'm not sure how it is there. But I've to states with lots of whites, like Indiania. The people were very friendly there, some of the friendliest and kindest people. I had no problems with them. It really matters about appearance, if a Muslim woman is recognized by her hijab then that is what the bigots look after or very foreign looking people.
Hate is a very powerful force. It can be more important to a hateful person than their family, future, or their life at all.
People are murdered everyday in this country because of their nationality, race, religion, and gender identity. Several years ago a man was helping his blind friend to the car (letting him hold on to his arm), and holding his wife's purse. This was at the Grand Ol' Opry in Nashville, Tn. A group of bad people saw him, called him a faggot, and shot him.
And the people in Nashville, are SO nice. They epitomize southern hospitality. But there is always bad people filled with hate around every corner.
 

ke gordon

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It is really disturbing that students have to be concerned for their safety like that. They should not be held responsible for the act of their terrorists that attack others in the name of religion. It is one of the facets of today's world that people feel so afraid in their own communities if they are Muslim.
 

Corzhens

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I guess those Saudi students have a reason to fear for their lives maybe because they are not used to violence. Just like a boy of a rich family who turns yellow upon hearing the sound of gunfire while the kids in the squatters area continue playing despite the shootout going on. So what those Saudi students want, security? Maybe they just try to be careful and try to enjoy America because it is much safer than the Philippines.
 

Jason76

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I don't blame them. I would be afraid, too. I hope they do stick close together. Safety in numbers, right?



Hate is a very powerful force. It can be more important to a hateful person than their family, future, or their life at all.
People are murdered everyday in this country because of their nationality, race, religion, and gender identity. Several years ago a man was helping his blind friend to the car (letting him hold on to his arm), and holding his wife's purse. This was at the Grand Ol' Opry in Nashville, Tn. A group of bad people saw him, called him a faggot, and shot him.
And the people in Nashville, are SO nice. They epitomize southern hospitality. But there is always bad people filled with hate around every corner.

I couldn't imagine that happening at the Grand Ole Opry. It seems like such an incident would only happen in some isolated area. Do you have a link to this story?
 

explorerx7

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Unfortunate situation. I am almost certain that if it was US students at Saudi Universities, they would probably have to face this problem. People must understand that not all Muslims would want to be destructive terrorists. I believe that most are just ordinary citizens who are just operating according to their faith and do not have a wish to cause undue harm to no one.
 
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