Journalist
Sydney
Mohamed El-leissy, the former Islamic Council of Victoria’s youth engagement officer, has identified unemployment as critical to social cohesion. Picture: David Geraghty Source: News Corp Australia
Islamic leaders have challenged the federal government and the private sector to address high unemployment rates in their communities by creating work opportunities for Muslims and boosting their sense of social self-worth.
Prominent Muslim figure Keysar Trad responded to controversial comments made by the federal Social Services Minister, Scott Morrison, in The Weekend Australian, in which he said the 50,000 asylum-seekers who came by boat to Australia under Labor presented particular problems, even dangers.
Because of a range of economic and social factors, Mr Morrison said, many Muslim migrants were not equipped with skills necessary to participate in mainstream Australian life and were vulnerable to the predations of criminals and extremists.
“At best these consequences are long-term unemployment and welfare dependence and at worst gangs, violent crime and even terrorism, ” he told The Weekend Australian.
Mr Trad, the founder of the Islamic Friendship Association, said: “I agree that there are economic factors, but the main one is unemployment.”
He has raised the issue in “several sermons” to his Sydney community.
“I have pleaded with those in the community, if they have any means of employing someone, even if they have space for work experience, to do it,” he said.
The 2011 census revealed the unemployment rate among Muslims was 12 per cent, about double the national average at the time.
Mr Trad challenged the government to invest resources in creating job opportunities for Muslim youth.
“I think the best way to start job creation is within the public service itself,” he said.
“It is a great training ground, and what better way to serve Australian society?”
Mr Morrison said “religion isn’t the issue” in the growing dissonance within Islamic communities.
However, Mr Trad said “ignorance of religion is a factor”.
The Islamic State terrorist group deployed “the glory of historical identity” to prey on jobless and malleable Muslims who did not have a strong sense of their own religion, Mr Trad said.
“These young people haven’t had access to the same proper religious education that others have,” he said. “It appeals to their feelings of persecution and says, ‘I’m going to save you from being a victim in Australia’.”
Victorian Muslim youth community leader Mohammed El-leissy said those in the Islamic community were being “excluded from employment opportunities” with detrimental effects, and called on private-sector employers to take on Muslims who, he said, “came from cultures where hard work was expected”.
Mr El-leissy, the former Islamic Council of Victoria’s youth engagement officer, also identified unemployment as critical to social cohesion.
“It plays a big part in what a lot of Muslims feel and what drives them to turn away to other avenues, whether it is criminal ways of making money or terrorism,” he said.
“It isn’t simply a case of will: there are some very real-world barriers for people finding employment.
“If your name is Mohammed and you go and apply for a job, you are less likely to get a call back.
“Corporate Australia needs to get on board.’'
Human resources managers who gave Muslim applicants a fair go would reap the benefits within their organisation, Mr El-leissy said.
“Any form of diversity always nourishes corporate culture and (Muslims’) ability to engage in a multinational capacity opens up new markets,” he said.
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