Irfan,
As a non-Muslim who really doesn't agree with any of the fundamental views of your religioin, I am writing to say - keep up the good work!

I am more than happy to share this country with someone who has different beliefs to me - that is what humanity is about. However the fear campaign is working and it is making it harder for us to live as a peaceful society. Fear driven marketing from the government and the media is what is driving the increased xenophobia I keep reading. And as master Yoda said, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate leads to the dark side.

All jokes aside though, a scared society gets backed into a corner and then willingly surrenders their civil liberties in the name of security, it then attacks the unknown. How sad we are not so comfortable with ourselves that we must attack anyting that seems foreign.

We then start generalising and saying that if there are 1 billion muslims on the planet then there must 1 billion terrorists - oh my God are my children safe! should I call the government to eradicate this evil within our midsts? (pathetic). How narrow minded, I mean I haven't seen anyone blame the pope for the IRA, it just doesn't make sense.

Speaking of the pope, I liked your blog on the response by some Muslims on his comments, others check it our here http://madhabirfy.blogspot.com/

So what we need to lift the consciousness of the nation, and the planet, are more Muslims like yourself to group together and publicly denounce terrorism. We need to show that a muslim terrorist is a minority. And you're going to have to be vigilant because the media will make it hard and some of the people in this blog will keep looking for a way to hate you (they're just sour and probably need to get a life, but hey, they're out there)

Keep it up.

B_D and Irfan,
Firstly thanks for the link, I will put a submission relating to Annexure B, Information given to prospective migrants. I have written to the Minister and will await her reply, but it is looking like Irfan is right in that it is left up to the migrant to find his own info, mainly.

Some migrants must get a rude shock on arrival to find things they would consider normal to be totally different here. Like alcohol consumption and freedom women have without supervision. Then there is the clothing, or lack of, at beaches, etc.

If the info on the DIMA website is what we give them, I can only say it is woefully inadequate. Just a few things like using a hanky to blow ones nose, shaking hands when introduced and saying 'pardon' if one belches. Revealing clothes gets about a sentence and FGM is not mentioned at all. Nothing about unacceptable foods.

However I will wait for the Ministers reply before making a final assesment, but it is not looking good.

Why are so many on the Left so determined to ignore the obvious? How long will it take before the majorities in western democratic secular societies finally face the fact that we really do have a "fifth column" in our midst? It is pointless to prattle on and on about how many "moderate" Muslims there are, because it is not the moderate Muslims who are setting the worldwide Muslim agenda for the destruction of secular society and the rise in Muslim populations in western nations. It is the zealots who are setting that agenda. It is the zealots and fanatics who are increasing THEIR numbers . . . financed by both Saudi and Iranian oil money. The Saudis have been financing Wahhabi/Salafist/Qutbist/Deobandi indoctrination schools for children and young adults, for decades. That propaganda campaign began even before the creation of the state of Israel. It is a manifest falsehood for Muslims to claim that Islamic extremism is solely a product of hostility to western foreign policy.
The fanatics of Islam have a long-term agenda, and they do not care if it takes 200 years to achieve that agenda. They have created for themselves a means of continuance . . . both by population increase and by schools of propaganda. Many of the very same Muslims who demand - and get - freedom of religious expression in the West are not willing to grant the same freedom to non-Muslims in their own countries of origin. What is clear - beyond any reasonable doubt - as Ibn Warraq reveals in his excellent book, "Why I Am Not a Muslim", is that many Muslim leaders in the West talk about "tolerance" for the pacification of the general public, but sing quite a different tune in private to their own dedicated religious followers. Are we really supposed to believe pious Muslims when they proclaim a devotion to democratic pluralism, equality of women and political liberty . . . given the fact that the demands of their own "holy book" do not support such principles?