One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson has called on the Australian Government to start an ‘assimilation test’ for migrants before granting them permanent visas.
In an opinion piece written for The Australian, Ms Hanson has taken aim at Muslims from Africa and the Middle East, writing that the Government was “increasingly giving permanent visas to people from countries where polygamy, child marriage, female genital mutilation and gender inequality is common”.
She said a minority within the Australian Muslim community lives in closed communities and has failed to integrate, saying the Government should look at the “solution to this problem”, suggesting that migrants should be assessed for their ability to “assimilate”.
“It is time we assess whether applicants, including those under the humanitarian program, are likely to assimilate and work because once a permanent visa is granted that person only needs to get 12 questions right out of 20 in a multiple choice test to gain citizenship.”
Imam Isse Musse, president of the Board of Imams in Victoria says Ms Hanson is defaming the Muslim community.
Pauline Hanson wearing the burqa in parliament. Source: AAP
“Though her piece refers to a small minority, she [Senator Hanson] is actually painting the whole community in the same light. Things like female genital mutilation happen in countries where there’s no law, whereas we have a fully functional law in Australia,” Imam Musse told SBS Punjabi.
“A tiny minority doesn’t represent the whole community and she [Senator Hanson] is dramatizing this whole thing.”
“Instead of saying ‘let’s educate people, let’s tell them what is right in the Australian context’, she is trying to create fear in the Muslim community,” Mr Musse said.
He said Senator Hanson’s choice of the word ‘assimilation’ is problematic.
Imam Isse Musse says Pauline Hanson is defaming the Muslim community. Source: Facebook
“Assimilation means - think the way I think, act the way I act and give up your culture, even if it’s good and join me. It’s written nowhere. It’s a multicultural community where everyone is contributing and everyone belongs here,” he said.
Vasan Srinivasan, a member of Australian Multicultural Council, a government advisory body, says Ms Hanson’s piece is an attempt to speak to her base while targeting the Muslim Community.
“There is the law in Australia to effectively deal with all of what she has said. What she is actually doing is setting her sights on the election,” Mr Srinivasan told SBS Punjabi.
SBS Punjabi has contacted Senator Hanson for a comment.
