DYFS AGENT ACCUSED OF SLURS AGAINST MUSLIMS | Society, Social Assistance & Lifestyle > Religion & Spirituality from AllBusiness.com

DYFS AGENT ACCUSED OF SLURS AGAINST MUSLIMS | Society, Social Assistance & Lifestyle > Religion & Spirituality from AllBusiness.com

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PATERSON -- Muslim community leaders Tuesday demanded an investigation of a caseworker for the state's Division of Youth and Family Services who they say insulted Muslims when he allegedly hurled racial and religious slurs at them at a local restaurant.

Sandra Damrah and Mohamed Metwaly Khalil of Woodland Park filed complaints with DYFS and Paterson Municipal Court against the caseworker, whom they identified as Ezeadi Kelechi, after a Nov. 23 incident at Uncle Lou's Restaurant in Paterson.

The caseworker saw Khalil and Damrah at a table and allegedly shouted, "Terrorist!" and asked, "Do you have your bomb belt?" and "Are you going to slit my throat?" recalled Khalil, an artist who works as assistant curator at the Paterson Museum. Khalil added that the man was accompanied by a DYFS colleague, who did nothing to halt the abuse.

Khalil identified Kelechi as a caseworker who had handled his attempt to regain custody of his son, who is in the DYFS foster care system and separated from his father for a year.

Lauren Kidd, a DYFS spokeswoman, said the agency is aware of the incident and investigating but confidentiality laws prohibit DYFS from commenting on specific cases.

The restaurant owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that he didn't see the conflict on Nov. 23 because he was working in the kitchen. However, he said witnesses had told him about it. "The Muslim man started it by calling the DYFS worker the N-word and it just escalated." He added, "This wasn't the first time the guy said stuff against this DYFS worker. They had another conflict two weeks before."

At a press conference Tuesday at the Islamic Center of Passaic County, Damrah and Khalil recalled the incident as Muslim leaders expressed their anger.

"This kind of verbal assault is outrageous," said James Yee, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "We call upon DYFS to address these incidents, which should not be tolerated by state agencies who are supposed to safeguard our children."

Yee said the incident increases the likelihood that Khalil's case was tainted from the start and underscores a suspicion that the agency is biased against Muslims.

Police were called to the scene by the restaurant owner after he heard yelling, said Paterson Police Lt. Alex Popov. The DYFS employee denied the allegations, while one witness at the restaurant backed Khalil's story. Popov described the incident as one of "he said, he said."

Muslim leaders said that the incident raises questions about how DYFS handles Muslim children, who, in the leaders' view, are often separated from their families and placed in non-Muslim homes by the agency. "Other families from the area have come out with complaints," Yee said.

Added Mohamed El Filali, outreach director of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, "If every Muslim child will be taken away from their family, we have a crisis."

Kidd, the agency spokeswoman, said the agency is committed to serving the Muslim community. "Religion and ethnicity are among the many important factors considered when determining the best placement for a child," she said. She also noted that the agency has scheduled cultural awareness training for selected staff to be facilitated by CAIR in January.

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