Syrian refugee-owned businesses in Halifax hit by break-ins; community steps in to help

Two businesses in Halifax are picking up the pieces and patching holes left after a pair of break-ins.

Halifax Regional Police say officers responded to reports of break-ins at the two businesses, Grill Way & Catering and Booza Emessa, in Bedford, N.S.

2:06 Syrian immigrants enrich Halifax with ice cream shop

Both stores are next to each other on the Bedford Highway and are owned by Syrian refugees.

“Somebody broke in and took a lot of meat, broke a lot of objects in there,” said Wasel Al Masalmeh, the owner of Grill Way, through a translator.

The break-ins were discovered when workers arrived to open the shop on Saturday.

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Al Masalmeh said it appeared that food was taken and their television ripped off the wall.

“One person couldn’t have done it, they needed probably a big truck to carry all that meat,” he said.

“We just hope that the people who are doing this don’t need to do this anymore.”

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The thieves even attempted to break through the wall in Grill Way’s bathroom in order to get into Booza Emessa next door.

“I’m sad because I don’t have an enemy. We’re a small business. We need to live,” said Nabil Alzaabi, owner of the Arabic-style ice cream store.

“A lot of people, they work with us. And we don’t want them to lose their money.”

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Both businesses have now re-opened although Al Masalmeh says his business will likely be out thousands of dollars.

Police are investigating the break-ins.

In the meantime, Al Masalmeh and Alzaabi say they have been overwhelmed by the support they’ve received over the past 36 hours, with people promising to visit as soon as the stores reopened.

“Oh my god, I love my community. Instagram and Facebook, there’s 20,000 people just support us, and that’s what we need,” said Alzaabi.

Al Masalmeh said the support reminds them of the community they are a part of.

“Incidents like this are not an example of what this city, this province and this country is all about.”

Anyone with information on the break-ins is asked to call police at 902-499-5016 or to contact Crime Stoppers.