Overview

• Members of Montreal’s Maghrebi community gathered in a city park to address the increasing recruitment of youth by street gangs.
• Hadjira Belkacem, event organizer, urged parents to unite and pressure authorities to investigate how children are being drawn into gangs.
• The gathering follows several recent incidents, including the death of a 14-year-old Algerian boy found near a Hells Angels-linked bunker.
• Quebec’s Public Security Minister François Bonnardel condemned the recruitment of children by gangs, calling it 'vile' and 'shocking.'
• Belkacem highlighted that youth as young as 12 are being coerced into criminal activities, with numerous families seeking help for their children.