Settlement Council of Australia slams citizenship test as ‘racial profiling’
EXCLUSIVE: Quizzing would-be citizens about domestic violence, forced marriage and genital mutilation is “racial profiling’’, according to a bizarre submission from a migrant lobby group.
NSW
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QUIZZING would-be citizens about domestic violence, forced marriage and genital mutilation is “racial profiling’’, according to a bizarre submission from a migrant lobby group.
The Settlement Council of Australia (SCA) wants the questions taken out of the tough new citizenship test, claiming they “do not hold special significance’’.
“While undeniably abhorrent, so too are crimes such as murder, rape and child sexual services,’’ the SCA has told the Immigration Department’s citizenship review.
“It clearly isn’t appropriate to list every crime in an Australian values test. To single out only certain crimes for inclusion appears to reveal the existence of racial profiling underlying these proposed changes.’’
The taxpayer-funded SCA — an umbrella group for 80 migrant settlement agencies — also warns the tougher test could “breed disenfranchisement’’ and trigger religious radicalisation.
“It is likely to send a strong message that the value of some migrants is lower than others,’’ it says. “The proposed changes could have the opposite effect, degrading social cohesion, promoting disloyalty and even leading to greater risk of radicalisation.’’
SDA chairwoman Dewani Bakkum, who is attending a United Nations conference in Geneva, was unavailable to comment yesterday about which ethnic groups she felt were being “racially profiled’’.
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But Immigration Minister Peter Dutton defended the policy to ban wife-bashers from becoming citizens.
“Anyone wishing to support perpetrators of domestic violence and other crimes do not share the values of this government or the vast majority of Australians,’’ Mr Dutton said.
The federal government will introduce legislation this week to include questions about “Australian values’’ in the citizenship test.
The Immigration Department says applicants will be screened for “any conduct that is inconsistent with Australian values, such as domestic or family violence … female genital mutilation and involvement in gangs and organised crime’’.
Migrants will also need to pass an English test with a “competent’’ level of literacy before they can apply for citizenship. But the Australian Human Rights Commission claims that many homegrown Aussies don’t speak or write English well enough to pass.
Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane says up to 40,000 new migrants each year would flunk the test during their first decade in Australia.
“Many Australia-born citizens would not possess a written or spoken command of English equivalent to this standard,’’ he has told the Immigration Department.
But Mr Dutton said yesterday that migrants would have four years to improve their English proficiency before seeking citizenship.
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