Bartamaha (Victoria):- THE Rudd government should extend its new regime of security and identity checks to everyone applying for a visa to Australia, regardless of whether their native country is considered a terror threat, a key Somali leader has said.
Abdurahman Osman, the president of the Somali Community of Victoria, yesterday welcomed the move to introduce biometric screening of visa applicants from 10 countries deemed to pose an increased risk to Australia’s national security.
Those 10 nations have not been formally named, although in unveiling the government’s new white paper on counter-terrorism, Kevin Rudd nominated Somalia and Yemen as examples of “newer areas of concern”.
Mr Osman said he understood why Somali immigrants would be screened, as there was a genuine threat from al-Shabaab — the al-Qa’ida affiliate flourishing in the African nation — even if he doubted whether such beliefs were being imported into Australia.
“Al-Shabaab is not only real, it’s over real, it’s hell. What’s going on in Somalia today is hell,” he said.
“But we want peace, we fled from another country where there is no peace and we don’t want to bring the problems of that country here.”
Mr Osman urged the government to use new face-scanning and fingerprinting technology to check all visa applicants, as it seeks to keep Australia safe from global terror. “I would not stop the government from defending their country,” he said
“I am very happy, but I would like it to be from all over the world, not just for 10 countries,” he said.
Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, the Sydney cleric and former mufti of Australia, warned that the decision to target only some nations with the stringent identity checks would provoke resentment among incoming Australians and could even provide a path to radicalisation.
Likening the new policies to “putting someone’s leg in a cast even when it is not broken”, Sheik al-Hilali told The Australian that the biometric testing was a draconian measure that would alienate people hoping to find a new life here.
“It will sow the seeds of radicalisation in Australia, as it would in any country,” he said, speaking through interpreter Keysar Trad.
“They are draconian policies and they will create alienation and hatred in people’s hearts.”
Mr Trad, president of the Islamic Friendship Association, added: “If a person is a (terrorist) sleeper, I can’t imagine how having fingerprints on a database will stop an act of terror taking place.
“It’s just intrusive information-gathering that will further marginalise Muslim communities.”
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Lauren Wilsonm Drew Warne-Smith
Suource: the Australia
