An Iraqi refugee family said they are worried for the safety of their children after a neighour left a threatening note on their doorstep.

Raad Lalqaraghuli discovered the note outside their apartment in Maryland, Baltimore, last week, and said it was the final straw after months of intimidation and verbal bullying since they had arrived in the US.

The note had a picture of a woman in a hijab alongside the caption: “Take that sh*t off your head” and had phrases such as “No one wants you here”, “Your kind is a disgrace” and “9/11 was your fault”.

Mr Lalqaraghuli, who came to the US several months ago with his wife and four young children, said he had stopped working as a taxi driver so he could focus on dropping his children off and picking them up from school.

His three girls and one boy, aged between two and 12, are traumatised, he said, and are suffering nightmares, scared about being sent back to Iraq.

He reported the note to the police, who wrote up a report and allegedly discovered the 14-year-old daughter of their downstairs neighbour had written it. Her mother had reportedly stuck the note under the family’s door during school hours.

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Zainab Chaudry, the outreach manager in Maryland of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told The Independent that the father, who speaks little English, was a well-respected engineer working for an American firm in Iraq.

US visas for him and his family were fast-tracked as his life was seen to be in jeopardy after his three brothers were killed by militia forces.

“They gave the note to the police but they have a copy of it. Every time he looks at it his heart sinks,” she said. “Now they don’t feel safe here, and have been trying to move."

She added that the local police had sent round a car to check up on the family again after reporters caught wind of the story.

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“We know this isn’t an isolated incident. Other refugee families in the area have been targeted by hate or intolerance. But they are often too afraid of the backlash to speak out.”

She added: “It was heart-breaking to see a grown man cry as he was so worried about the safety of his children.”

Ms Chaudry pointed to the rhetoric from politicians such as Donald Trump who “encouraged” people to “demonise” Muslims, immigrants and refugees.

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