According to rahyafte (the missionaries and converts website):The app, called IMIRT (Islamophobia-Motivated Incident Reporting Tool), comes amid a surge of violent attacks against Muslimsacross the country, following the Israel-Hamas war that started over 100 days ago, Toronto City News reported on Saturday.
Imam Ibrahim Hindy of the Dar Al-Tawheed Islamic Centre, who developed the app with the support of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said the app would address the issue of underreporting.
He said the app would allow Muslims to easily report any incidents of hate or discrimination on their phones, without having to go to the police if they were not comfortable.
Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s representative on combatting Islamophobia, praised the app as a “really good step” that would encourage more victims of hate to come forward. “So having this third-party application where people will feel more comfortable to come forward is very important.”
Mohammed Hashim, the executive director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation says the application is not just about numbers, but a way to foster safety within the community.
“This app will hopefully give us a picture – a better picture – of where incidents are happening so that we can find trends and be able to highlight that when conversations with law enforcement or with the community themselves.”
The app’s launch coincides with a spike in hate crime incidents in Toronto, where police have made 54 arrests and laid 117 charges between October 7, 2023, and January 10, 2024. Police have also received more than 145 web submissions since launching the Hate Graffiti Web Form.
