Warning: Readers may find details of this story disturbing
The scars on Eva Rose’s left wrist and forearm tell part of her painful journey.
As a transgender, Syrian refugee who was abandoned by her family, she has attempted to take her own life. At times, this seemed like her only path to internal peace.
As Rose tries to speak about her suicide attempt, tears stream down her face.
The emotion of the memory too heavy to share. So much of her story is strewn with suffering, abuse and abandonment.
When ISIS took over Rose’s eastern Syrian village near the Iraqi border in 2014, she says a terrorist militant forced her to perform sexual acts. She was told only then that she would be safe.
“I was forced to do things against my will…or my life was at risk,” she told CTV National News.
When asked what ISIS normally does to members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, Rose runs a finger along her throat. “They cut your head off.”
The 23 year old arrived in Canada as a refugee on June 6. after spending the last several years living as a transgender refugee in Turkey. Rose was ecstatic when the UN Refugee agency told her she’d be moving to Canada.
“When I found out I was coming to Canada I knew as an LGBTQ person I would be able to live freely here.”
While she remains grateful to the government and Canadians across the country, Rose says her vision of a free, open life has so far been shattered. When she arrived she was sent to live in a Toronto area hotel with other refugees who she says verbally abuse her daily because of her sexual orientation.
During her first meal, two other refugees said to her “If we were back home in Iraqi people like Saddam Hussein would finish all (you) people by beheading them. Unfortunately here in Canada they protect people like you,” she recalled.
Rose says deep rooted cultural and religious bias against members of the LGBTQ2S+ community means she will find little comfort or sense of community from other refugees, even those from her own country.
Refugee advocate Mona Elshayal has watched as Rose has become withdrawn, sitting in her hotel room all day.
“I’ve seen the way people treat her, and point at her, and laugh at her like she’s a child bullied in a playground, by adults. Imagine how that feels, the fear of just stepping out of your hotel room,” says Elshayal.
The federal government has made repeated promises to vulnerable refugees coming to Canada from around the world. In August, as Canada closed its embassy in Kabul, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeated his government’s pledge, this time to the people of Afghanistan, saying the commitment to “woman and girls, the LGBTQ communities remains unwavering.”
However, Rose doesn’t believe the government has upheld their promise to people like her once they finally arrive, saying her stay at the refugee hotel makes her “feel like a criminal, but what is my crime? I’m just LGBTQ, I haven’t done anything wrong.”
The refugee hotel where Rose is currently staying is run by an organization called Polycultural, which is contracted out by the federal government, and paid taxpayer dollars to help care for and resettle refugees.
Elshayal says when the issue of Rose’s safety in the hotel was brought to the attention of Polycultural staff, “they just kind of laughed it off and said do you want us to have security guards surround her everywhere she goes, and I think they took it as more of a joke than taking things seriously.”
CTV National News spoke with Polycultural’s executive director over the phone Monday. He said the organization is now looking to move Rose to another hotel, that doesn’t house other refugees. The move would be a temporary fix, as they work to find her a more permanent place to live.
In a statement to CTV National News from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the department, in part, says: “The safety and security of the refugees temporarily staying in hotels is paramount. As we previously indicated, IRCC is in constant contact with service providers to ensure they’re meeting refugees’ needs, from sharing information to adding resources. This includes daily updates to IRCC on activities in the hotels.”
The IRCC says its currently following up with Polycultural about this specific situation.
For Rose, she says she simply wants to live her life freely, and embrace her new country and all it has to offer.
The following is a list of resources and hotlines dedicated to supporting people in crisis:
Hope for Wellness Helpline (English, French, Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut): 1-855-242-3310
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season and 32nd overall, helping the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night.
Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala also scored. The Kings have won two of their last three.
Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators. They are 1-2-1 in their last four.
Kopitar opened the scoring with 6:36 remaining in the opening period. Saros denied the Kings captain’s first shot, but Kopitar collected the rebound below the goal line and banked it off the netminder’s skate.
Fiala, a former Predator, made it 2-0 35 seconds into the third.
The Kings held Nashville to just three third-period shots on goal, the first coming with 3:55 remaining and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:
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DEVILS 3 OILERS 0
EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his NHL career, helping the New Jersey Devils close their western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored. The Devils improved to 8-5-2. They have won three of their last four after a four-game skid.
Calvin Pickard made 13 saves for Edmonton. The Oilers had won two straight.
