Lebs stink, cant read, unemployed, unskilled and of questionable character
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- Start date
Minorities
Disregard Safety, Acquire
January 2007
IMMIGRATION authorities warned the Fraser government in 1976 it was accepting too many Lebanese Muslim refugees without "the required qualities" for successful integration.
The Fraser cabinet was also told many of the refugees were unskilled, illiterate and had questionable character and standards of personal hygiene.
Cabinet documents released today by the National Archives under the 30-year rule reveal how Australia's decision to accept thousands of Lebanese Muslims fleeing Lebanon's 1976 civil war led to a temporary collapse of normal eligibility standards.
The emergence of the documents raises the question of whether the temporary relaxation might have contributed to contemporary racial tensions in Sydney's southwest, which exploded a year ago into race-based riots in Cronulla.
Former prime mini
ster Malcolm Fraser rejected yesterday any link and said modern Muslim youth felt alienated because governments had not done enough to help them integrate into the general community.
"I suspect the schools weren't equipped (and) I suspect the communities weren't equipped," Mr Fraser told The Australian.
But demographer Bob Birrell said the relatively depressed nature of Sydney's Muslim community could easily be linked to the lack of education and work skills of the 1970s migrants.
John Howard was accused of inflaming public hatred towards the Islamic community last February when he warned that aspects of Muslim culture posed an unprecedented challenge for Australia's immigration program.
The Prime Minister said while he remained confident the overwhelming majority of Muslims would be successfully integrated, there were unique problems that previous intakes of migrants from Europe and Asia did not have.
"I do think there is this particular complication because there
is a fragment which is utterly antagonistic to our kind of society, and that is a difficulty," he told The Australian then.
"You can't find any equivalent in Italian, Greek, or Lebanese, or Chinese or Baltic immigration to Australia. There is no equivalent of raving on about jihad, but that is the major problem.
"I think some of the associated attitudes towards women (are also) a problem."
Mr Fraser's first full year in office, revealed in the papers released today, saw a frenzy of decision-making, with the cabinet making more than 2000 decisions and receiving more than 50,000 pages in submissions - twice the workload shouldered the year before by the Whitlam government.
Troubled by a deteriorating economy, the government unleashed a razor gang to slash spending. The abrupt ideological shift from free-wheeling Labor idealism to economically dour conservatism triggered cabinet policy tensions and an epic battle between Mr Fraser and the bureaucracy on economic policy.
I
n September 1976, as a humanitarian response to the civil war raging at the time between Lebanese Christians and Muslims, cabinet agreed to relax rules requiring immigrants to be healthy, of good character and to have a work qualification.
The war claimed 50,000 lives and displaced 600,000 people, many of whom fled to Cyprus, where Australia set up processing facilities in the capital, Nicosia.
Australia accepted 4000 Lebanese immigrants in 1976.
A cabinet submission of November 30 called for a return to the normal arrangements. The Fraser government boosted immigration numbers from 55,000 in 1975-76 to 70,000 in 1976-77.
Mr Fraser told The Australian that cabinet had relaxed entry qualifications as a humanitarian response to the Lebanese civil war in line with Australia's international responsibilities.
He said it would be wrong to assert that current tensions in the Muslim community came about because his government had allowed "bad people" to enter the country.
Current racial tensions related to people born in Australia - not the immigrant refugees, he said.
"From my point of view, I think the education system and the community have got to take a pretty fair part of the blame (for current problems)," Mr Fraser said. "If there were known to be problems in relation to the Lebanese, maybe the very pertinent question is: why weren't some special efforts made to ward off future difficulties?"
Immigration minister Michael MacKellar told colleagues in 1976 officials had cited concerns about health and character requirements, personal qualities and the migrants' ability to integrate.
Whereas earlier Lebanese intakes had involved an even split of Christians and Muslims, the submission said 90 per cent of the migrants were Muslims and that a high percentage were illiterate and unskilled.
The officials had warned that many refugees were misrepresenting their background during interviews in "deliberate attempts to conceal vital information",
Mr MacKellar reported.
And he said most of the applicants were being sponsored by relatives living in Sydney's southwest, where overcrowding was emerging along with evidence that husbands were leaving wives and children "without adequate support" to travel to Lebanon seeking displaced relatives.
The Commonwealth Employment Service and Department of Social Security had reported difficulties at Campsie, in Sydney's southwest, which had a high proportion of migrants. Half were unemployed, and local schools were reporting fears they would run out of classrooms.
Cabinet agreed with Mr MacKellar and authorised him to issue a press release attributing the decision on curbing the intake to concerns about a lack of work opportunities for the migrants.
Mr Fraser said he would be surprised if no mistakes had been made by immigration officials over the years, but that Australia had "done pretty well" out of therefugee intakes from areas of civil conflict.
Dr Birrell, who heads Mo
nash University's Centre for Population and Urban Research, said a study last year had shown Lebanese Muslims in southwest Sydney were less well-off economically than Lebanese Christians.
Dr Birrell said this reflected the lack of work skills and education of many of the refugees who arrived in the 1970s.
IMMIGRATION authorities warned the Fraser government in 1976 it was accepting too many Lebanese Muslim refugees without "the required qualities" for successful integration.
The Fraser cabinet was also told many of the refugees were unskilled, illiterate and had questionable character and standards of personal hygiene.
Cabinet documents released today by the National Archives under the 30-year rule reveal how Australia's decision to accept thousands of Lebanese Muslims fleeing Lebanon's 1976 civil war led to a temporary collapse of normal eligibility standards.
The emergence of the documents raises the question of whether the temporary relaxation might have contributed to contemporary racial tensions in Sydney's southwest, which exploded a year ago into race-based riots in Cronulla.
Former prime mini
ster Malcolm Fraser rejected yesterday any link and said modern Muslim youth felt alienated because governments had not done enough to help them integrate into the general community.
"I suspect the schools weren't equipped (and) I suspect the communities weren't equipped," Mr Fraser told The Australian.
But demographer Bob Birrell said the relatively depressed nature of Sydney's Muslim community could easily be linked to the lack of education and work skills of the 1970s migrants.
John Howard was accused of inflaming public hatred towards the Islamic community last February when he warned that aspects of Muslim culture posed an unprecedented challenge for Australia's immigration program.
The Prime Minister said while he remained confident the overwhelming majority of Muslims would be successfully integrated, there were unique problems that previous intakes of migrants from Europe and Asia did not have.
"I do think there is this particular complication because there
is a fragment which is utterly antagonistic to our kind of society, and that is a difficulty," he told The Australian then.
"You can't find any equivalent in Italian, Greek, or Lebanese, or Chinese or Baltic immigration to Australia. There is no equivalent of raving on about jihad, but that is the major problem.
"I think some of the associated attitudes towards women (are also) a problem."
Mr Fraser's first full year in office, revealed in the papers released today, saw a frenzy of decision-making, with the cabinet making more than 2000 decisions and receiving more than 50,000 pages in submissions - twice the workload shouldered the year before by the Whitlam government.
Troubled by a deteriorating economy, the government unleashed a razor gang to slash spending. The abrupt ideological shift from free-wheeling Labor idealism to economically dour conservatism triggered cabinet policy tensions and an epic battle between Mr Fraser and the bureaucracy on economic policy.
I
n September 1976, as a humanitarian response to the civil war raging at the time between Lebanese Christians and Muslims, cabinet agreed to relax rules requiring immigrants to be healthy, of good character and to have a work qualification.
The war claimed 50,000 lives and displaced 600,000 people, many of whom fled to Cyprus, where Australia set up processing facilities in the capital, Nicosia.
Australia accepted 4000 Lebanese immigrants in 1976.
A cabinet submission of November 30 called for a return to the normal arrangements. The Fraser government boosted immigration numbers from 55,000 in 1975-76 to 70,000 in 1976-77.
Mr Fraser told The Australian that cabinet had relaxed entry qualifications as a humanitarian response to the Lebanese civil war in line with Australia's international responsibilities.
He said it would be wrong to assert that current tensions in the Muslim community came about because his government had allowed "bad people" to enter the country.
Current racial tensions related to people born in Australia - not the immigrant refugees, he said.
"From my point of view, I think the education system and the community have got to take a pretty fair part of the blame (for current problems)," Mr Fraser said. "If there were known to be problems in relation to the Lebanese, maybe the very pertinent question is: why weren't some special efforts made to ward off future difficulties?"
Immigration minister Michael MacKellar told colleagues in 1976 officials had cited concerns about health and character requirements, personal qualities and the migrants' ability to integrate.
Whereas earlier Lebanese intakes had involved an even split of Christians and Muslims, the submission said 90 per cent of the migrants were Muslims and that a high percentage were illiterate and unskilled.
The officials had warned that many refugees were misrepresenting their background during interviews in "deliberate attempts to conceal vital information",
Mr MacKellar reported.
And he said most of the applicants were being sponsored by relatives living in Sydney's southwest, where overcrowding was emerging along with evidence that husbands were leaving wives and children "without adequate support" to travel to Lebanon seeking displaced relatives.
The Commonwealth Employment Service and Department of Social Security had reported difficulties at Campsie, in Sydney's southwest, which had a high proportion of migrants. Half were unemployed, and local schools were reporting fears they would run out of classrooms.
Cabinet agreed with Mr MacKellar and authorised him to issue a press release attributing the decision on curbing the intake to concerns about a lack of work opportunities for the migrants.
Mr Fraser said he would be surprised if no mistakes had been made by immigration officials over the years, but that Australia had "done pretty well" out of therefugee intakes from areas of civil conflict.
Dr Birrell, who heads Mo
nash University's Centre for Population and Urban Research, said a study last year had shown Lebanese Muslims in southwest Sydney were less well-off economically than Lebanese Christians.
Dr Birrell said this reflected the lack of work skills and education of many of the refugees who arrived in the 1970s.
William of the White Hand
Junior News Editor
Some things never change.
Minorities
Disregard Safety, Acquire
A man convicted of killing Sydney footballer Jai Jago today lost an appeal to reduce his nine-year jail term.
Kadr Diab, 22, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Jago, a promising South Sydney rugby league junior.
The 18-year-old was shot dead on April 26, 2001, while walking home from Anzac Day celebrations in Hurlstone Park, in Sydney's south-west.
In 2003, NSW Supreme Court Justice Jeff Shaw sentenced Diab to nine years' jail, with a six-year non parole period.
Diab's co-accused, who pulled the trigger, pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed for 13 years and six months, with a non-parole period of eight-and-a-half years.
The sentences sparked NSW opposition calls for mandatory minimum sentencing and were dismissed at the time by Mr Jago's father, Graham, as a "joke".
The gunman, who was under
age at the time and cannot be named, later had his sentence increased on appeal by the state's Director of Public Prosecutions, to 16 years, with a minimum 11 years.
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Diab appealed against the severity of his sentence in the Court of Criminal Appeal, arguing it was excessive.
But Justices Michael Grove, Virginia Bell and Terence Buddin today unanimously dismissed his appeal.
Graham Jago welcomed the decision but said the killers' original sentences were still too light.
"There would be nothing worse than coming here today and having his (Diab's) sentence reduced," Mr Jago said outside court.
"They can't appeal anymore so hopefully this is the end of it, but it's still not long enough.
"It's been four years since the young bloke was murdered and we're just finishing dealing with (the court proceedings) now.
"We can only hope that they finish their full terms now."
The victim's mother, Lorraine Jago, said Diab c
ould be free on parole in three years and expressed horror at the thought of seeing him in the community.
"You've got to share the streets with him, what do you do when you run into him on the street?" she asked.
Kadr Diab, 22, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Jago, a promising South Sydney rugby league junior.
The 18-year-old was shot dead on April 26, 2001, while walking home from Anzac Day celebrations in Hurlstone Park, in Sydney's south-west.
In 2003, NSW Supreme Court Justice Jeff Shaw sentenced Diab to nine years' jail, with a six-year non parole period.
Diab's co-accused, who pulled the trigger, pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed for 13 years and six months, with a non-parole period of eight-and-a-half years.
The sentences sparked NSW opposition calls for mandatory minimum sentencing and were dismissed at the time by Mr Jago's father, Graham, as a "joke".
The gunman, who was under
age at the time and cannot be named, later had his sentence increased on appeal by the state's Director of Public Prosecutions, to 16 years, with a minimum 11 years.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Diab appealed against the severity of his sentence in the Court of Criminal Appeal, arguing it was excessive.
But Justices Michael Grove, Virginia Bell and Terence Buddin today unanimously dismissed his appeal.
Graham Jago welcomed the decision but said the killers' original sentences were still too light.
"There would be nothing worse than coming here today and having his (Diab's) sentence reduced," Mr Jago said outside court.
"They can't appeal anymore so hopefully this is the end of it, but it's still not long enough.
"It's been four years since the young bloke was murdered and we're just finishing dealing with (the court proceedings) now.
"We can only hope that they finish their full terms now."
The victim's mother, Lorraine Jago, said Diab c
ould be free on parole in three years and expressed horror at the thought of seeing him in the community.
"You've got to share the streets with him, what do you do when you run into him on the street?" she asked.
Minorities
Disregard Safety, Acquire
AAP General News (Australia)
10-25-2000
Vic: Blackmail over revenge beating led to murder, court told
MELBOURNE, Oct 25 AAP - A blackmailer was murdered because he threatened to expose
his killer as having arranged a pay-back attack over an insult to his family, the Victorian
Supreme Court was told today.
The accused man, Nabil Hassan Milaki, 38, formerly of Chapel Road, Bankstown, New South
Wales, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mustapha El-Ahmad, 31, on June 6, 1998.
Prosecutor Ray Elston told the jury how El-Ahmad's body was found dumped at a lonely
spot off the Princes Highway, near southeast suburban Springvale, on July 7, 1998.
He died from multiple head wounds, possibly inflicted by a machete.
Mr Elston said it was the Crown's case that Milaki killed El-Ahmad because p
ressure
was being brought to bear on him to hand over cash.
El-Ahmad had been blackmailing Milaki, threatening to expose him for his role in a
beating in Sydney in 1991.
Milaki's brother-in-law, Mohamed El-Masri, had insulted his wife's family by expressing
the opinion that his younger brother could "do better" than to marry Milaki's sister,
Mr Elston said.
El-Masri required 17 stitches in face wounds after being viciously attacked in a Sydney
street on November 25, 199l.
He never identified the man who assaulted him and no-one was ever charged over the incident.
But Mr Elston said the Crown contended that the dead man actually carried out the attack
on El-Masri, on Milaki's orders.
The prosecutor said Milaki made a number of payments to El-Ahmad but eventually "decided
he had a problem he had to sort out".
Milaki had collected Al-Ahmad from his Preston home, and his departure in Milaki's
car was the last time Al-Ahmad was seen aliv
e.
Defence counsel David Drake said the case was a "murder mystery" and as with all such
mysteries there were a number of suspects.
He said his client, a father of six, travelled from his job in Port Hedland, to try
to see his children.
Milaki was barred from going to the house where his wife and children lived because
he was the subject of an intervention order.
He said he had met up with his one-time friend, El Ahmad, but had dropped him off at
a shopping centre in Springvale and that was the last he saw of him.
He said the trial would hear that the dead man was a heroin addict with a reputation
for violence.
The trial, before Justice Philip Cummins, was continuing.
10-25-2000
Vic: Blackmail over revenge beating led to murder, court told
MELBOURNE, Oct 25 AAP - A blackmailer was murdered because he threatened to expose
his killer as having arranged a pay-back attack over an insult to his family, the Victorian
Supreme Court was told today.
The accused man, Nabil Hassan Milaki, 38, formerly of Chapel Road, Bankstown, New South
Wales, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mustapha El-Ahmad, 31, on June 6, 1998.
Prosecutor Ray Elston told the jury how El-Ahmad's body was found dumped at a lonely
spot off the Princes Highway, near southeast suburban Springvale, on July 7, 1998.
He died from multiple head wounds, possibly inflicted by a machete.
Mr Elston said it was the Crown's case that Milaki killed El-Ahmad because p
ressure
was being brought to bear on him to hand over cash.
El-Ahmad had been blackmailing Milaki, threatening to expose him for his role in a
beating in Sydney in 1991.
Milaki's brother-in-law, Mohamed El-Masri, had insulted his wife's family by expressing
the opinion that his younger brother could "do better" than to marry Milaki's sister,
Mr Elston said.
El-Masri required 17 stitches in face wounds after being viciously attacked in a Sydney
street on November 25, 199l.
He never identified the man who assaulted him and no-one was ever charged over the incident.
But Mr Elston said the Crown contended that the dead man actually carried out the attack
on El-Masri, on Milaki's orders.
The prosecutor said Milaki made a number of payments to El-Ahmad but eventually "decided
he had a problem he had to sort out".
Milaki had collected Al-Ahmad from his Preston home, and his departure in Milaki's
car was the last time Al-Ahmad was seen aliv
e.
Defence counsel David Drake said the case was a "murder mystery" and as with all such
mysteries there were a number of suspects.
He said his client, a father of six, travelled from his job in Port Hedland, to try
to see his children.
Milaki was barred from going to the house where his wife and children lived because
he was the subject of an intervention order.
He said he had met up with his one-time friend, El Ahmad, but had dropped him off at
a shopping centre in Springvale and that was the last he saw of him.
He said the trial would hear that the dead man was a heroin addict with a reputation
for violence.
The trial, before Justice Philip Cummins, was continuing.
Minorities
Disregard Safety, Acquire
AAP General News (Australia)
09-01-1999
Vic: Man charged with murder after woman s body found
A man has appeared in court charged with murder after a woman aged in her 30s was found
dead at a house in Reservoir, in Melbourne's north, yesterday.
MUSTAFA ACIKOGLU, aged 39, has been charged with one count of murder after being arrested
today in Shepparton, in northern Victoria.
ACIKOGLU was brought to Melbourne for questioning by the homicide squad before appearing in
Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Magistrate BARBARA COTTERELL remanded ACIKOGLU, of Glenroy, in Melbourne's north, to
reappear in the court on November 10.
Police said yesterday the body of the woman was found about 9.30pm, when they were called
to the Mirandah Road house following reports of a disturbance.
09-01-1999
Vic: Man charged with murder after woman s body found
A man has appeared in court charged with murder after a woman aged in her 30s was found
dead at a house in Reservoir, in Melbourne's north, yesterday.
MUSTAFA ACIKOGLU, aged 39, has been charged with one count of murder after being arrested
today in Shepparton, in northern Victoria.
ACIKOGLU was brought to Melbourne for questioning by the homicide squad before appearing in
Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Magistrate BARBARA COTTERELL remanded ACIKOGLU, of Glenroy, in Melbourne's north, to
reappear in the court on November 10.
Police said yesterday the body of the woman was found about 9.30pm, when they were called
to the Mirandah Road house following reports of a disturbance.
Minorities
Disregard Safety, Acquire
AAP General News (Australia)
06-20-2003
Vic: Sex predator who blamed designer drug jailed for 22 years
By Nick Lenaghan
MELBOURNE, June 20 AAP - A Melbourne man who blamed the designer drug ice for sexual
attacks on three teenaged girls was today jailed for 22 years and nine months.
Muhammed Kerbatieh, 33, of Coburg, had denied the allegations but a County Court jury
found him guilty of raping two 15-year-olds and attempting to rape a 16-year-old during
a 17-day spree starting in September 2001.
Today, Judge Jim Duggan jailed him for a minimum term of 18 years, describing the attacks
as "an outburst of predatory sexual violence at an outrageous level".
"You still maintain your innocence but the reality is that the case against you was
quite overwhelming," Judge Duggan said.
"
The fact is you exploited their youth and vulnerability and employed your superior
physical strength to commit these quite outrageous crimes," he said.
The court was told that Kerbatieh lured the impressionable young girls into isolated
places where he could attack them.
He told his first victim, a 15-year-old he met in Sydney Road, Brunswick, that he was
a drug dealer, before taking her to a Coburg park and raping her.
"You told her you were her worst nightmare. You told her to do what you wanted otherwise
you would kill her," Judge Duggan said.
Three days later Kerbatieh raped another 15-year-old whom he persuaded to come to his
mother's home, where he was living, after they met at a pool hall.
He accused her of stealing $20,000 from him before handcuffing her, tying her feet
and raping her.
His third victim was walking to school along Sydney Road when Kerbatieh conned, then
forced her into his house, before she managed to flee.
During t
he trial in March, Kerbatieh sacked his lawyer, conducting his own defence
and cross-examining his victims.
The jury found him guilty on 15 charges, including rape, assault with intent to rape,
committing an indecent act with a child and false imprisonment.
During the plea for mitigation the court was told Kerbatieh had began using "crystal
meth", or ice, after he had served a prison term for shaking his baby daughter, giving
her brain damage.
Judge Duggan said a psychologist's report found Kerbatieh's heavy chronic use of "crystal
meth" had disposed him toward aggression and violence.
"The violent rape of a young girl taken from the streets is rightly regarded as a most
serious offence," the judge said.
"For this you have no-one to blame but yourself."
06-20-2003
Vic: Sex predator who blamed designer drug jailed for 22 years
By Nick Lenaghan
MELBOURNE, June 20 AAP - A Melbourne man who blamed the designer drug ice for sexual
attacks on three teenaged girls was today jailed for 22 years and nine months.
Muhammed Kerbatieh, 33, of Coburg, had denied the allegations but a County Court jury
found him guilty of raping two 15-year-olds and attempting to rape a 16-year-old during
a 17-day spree starting in September 2001.
Today, Judge Jim Duggan jailed him for a minimum term of 18 years, describing the attacks
as "an outburst of predatory sexual violence at an outrageous level".
"You still maintain your innocence but the reality is that the case against you was
quite overwhelming," Judge Duggan said.
"
The fact is you exploited their youth and vulnerability and employed your superior
physical strength to commit these quite outrageous crimes," he said.
The court was told that Kerbatieh lured the impressionable young girls into isolated
places where he could attack them.
He told his first victim, a 15-year-old he met in Sydney Road, Brunswick, that he was
a drug dealer, before taking her to a Coburg park and raping her.
"You told her you were her worst nightmare. You told her to do what you wanted otherwise
you would kill her," Judge Duggan said.
Three days later Kerbatieh raped another 15-year-old whom he persuaded to come to his
mother's home, where he was living, after they met at a pool hall.
He accused her of stealing $20,000 from him before handcuffing her, tying her feet
and raping her.
His third victim was walking to school along Sydney Road when Kerbatieh conned, then
forced her into his house, before she managed to flee.
During t
he trial in March, Kerbatieh sacked his lawyer, conducting his own defence
and cross-examining his victims.
The jury found him guilty on 15 charges, including rape, assault with intent to rape,
committing an indecent act with a child and false imprisonment.
During the plea for mitigation the court was told Kerbatieh had began using "crystal
meth", or ice, after he had served a prison term for shaking his baby daughter, giving
her brain damage.
Judge Duggan said a psychologist's report found Kerbatieh's heavy chronic use of "crystal
meth" had disposed him toward aggression and violence.
"The violent rape of a young girl taken from the streets is rightly regarded as a most
serious offence," the judge said.
"For this you have no-one to blame but yourself."