On July 28, a Syrian refugee was assaulted in Rio de Janerio’s picturesque Copacabana neighbourhood as he was trying to make a living by selling sfihas – an Arab snack popular in Brazil – in the street

According to the Brazilian media, 33-year-old Mohamed Ali Abdelmoatty Ilenavvy was attacked by the members of an alleged “street vendor mafia” for setting his stall in another vendor’s spot.

This would have been a simple altercation between street-vendors if it were not for the language used by the aggressors. The yet-to-be-identified assailants told Mohamed Ali to “get out of their country” as they demanded he pay them about $3,000 to be allowed to set up a stall on the pavement.

Full article at Al Jazeera’s website. Date of publication 16/08/2017