EBETSU, HOKKAIDO ¨C In Ebetsu, Hokkaido, a series of fires over the past year at a mosque and other facilities associated with the Pakistani community has drawn attention to some of the issues foreign residents face when coexisting with the local community, particularly for residents of Pakistani origin.
Early in the morning of Feb. 28, a fire broke out at a mosque in Ebetsu, a city of about 117,600. According to police, the blaze is believed to have originated inside the mosque, a prefabricated building that was unoccupied at the time. No one was injured in the incident. The following day, March 1, another fire occurred at a separate prefabricated building owned by a Pakistani resident.
The causes of the fires remain under investigation.
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