Muslim community should not feel targeted by Government's counterterrorism laws, academic says

Updated

The Muslim community in Australia should not feel targeted by the Federal Government's proposed expansion of anti-terrorism laws, a Muslim academic says.

The Government is proposing a broadening of the counter-terrorism regime that would include making it an offence to visit certain areas dominated by terrorists, without justification.

The Lebanese Muslim Association has already condemned the move, warning that it will marginalise the Muslim community in Australia.

But University of Canberra associate professor of international studies, Tahmina Rashid, says the community should view the measures as designed to protect them as well as the broader Australian community.

"At the moment... it seems that Muslim communities feel that they are the ones who are being targeted by these laws. That is their feeling," she said.

"However, if you look at the broader context, it's everybody in Australia who would be affected.

"Home-grown terrorism is a real threat, not only here, but in many other parts of the world. Hence, we need to actually have some kind of means to stop that kind of radicalism coming here."

Government plans to make it illegal to travel to certain areas without a valid reason were unveiled as part of a range of measures, including compelling telephone and internet companies to keep metadata.

The proposals will come before Parliament when it resumes later this month.

Muslim community, authorities need to work together: Rashid

Dr Rashid says she is not concerned people travelling to visit their families will be targeted without reason.

"The kind of terrorism that's going on, it is primarily going on in the countries which happen to be Muslim countries," she said.

Muslim communities need to be up front about it and cooperate with the Government [and say] that if there are any signs of radicalism in our community. Tahmina Rashid

"So if a person is going to Pakistan – let's say to visit family – it does not mean that the Government is tapping on every person who is leaving to go to Pakistan.

"Usually, [with] people who are going [to fight], there are signs already. Many of them, probably – before they come or after they come – might be under surveillance because they would have said something [or] they would have done something."

She says the Government has a responsibility to engage with communities, so that they do not feel isolated.

"At the same time, Muslim communities need to be up front about it and cooperate with the Government [and say] that if there are any signs of radicalism in our community they will deal with it right from the word go," Dr Rashid said.

"Perhaps this is an area where Government can actually be a bit more active and engage these communities so that they understand the situation better."

Topics: terrorism, security-intelligence, defence-and-national-security, laws, law-crime-and-justice, australia

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