Offensive comments related to refugees on Isle of Bute and police say arrest shows social media abuse will not be tolerated

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Police Scotland have said the arrest of a man responsible for a series of offensive Facebook posts about Syrian refugees resettled on the Isle of Bute should send a clear message that such social media abuse will not be tolerated.

Following a report of a series of alleged offensive online posts relating to Syrian refugees living in Rothesay on Bute, Police Scotland confirmed on Tuesday that a 40-year-old man, understood to be from the Inverclyde area, had been arrested under the Communications Act.

Twelve Syrian families arrived in the seaside town in early December, as Scotland welcomed one third of the thousand refugees David Cameron agreed to take from camps bordering Syria before the end of last year.

Syrian refugees in Scotland: cold weather but warm welcome Read more

Following the arrest, Insp Ewan Wilson from Dunoon police office said: “I hope that the arrest of this individual sends a clear message that Police Scotland will not tolerate any form of activity which could incite hatred and provoke offensive comments on social media.”

Over the winter volunteers on Bute have staffed a pop-up community centre, based in a church hall, allowing the refugees – who are mainly from rural backgrounds – to get to know one another as well as providing a focus for visits from education and social workers.

Soon after the arrival of the first Syrian refugees to Scotland last November, the SNP MP Mhairi Black criticised the “ignorant bile and thinly veiled racism” that she encountered online, which linked the refugees to the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.

The day before the first arrivals touched down at Glasgow airport, Humza Yousaf, the chair of the refugee taskforce that has coordinated the resettlement programme, and the Scottish government’s only Muslim minister, confirmed he had informed police of the Islamophobic abuse he received on social media.

But Yousaf has since praised the public’s response to the refugee crisis, saying: “I am deeply proud of the Scottish people who have extended the warmest possible hand of friendship to our newest neighbours.”