The race riots that began in Sydney, Australia, last Sunday still continue. The unrest is similar to the riots that took place across France for approximately fifteen days last month in that they are related to Muslim youth in the margins of society.
The riots also demonstrate that the Australian government's devotion to anti-terror policy and lack of interest in integration of the Muslim population in recent years has been a failure. The government of John Howard's Liberal Party has actively supported the U.S. war in Iraq, and it created anti-terror legislation ahead of other countries. Anti-Muslim sentiment has grown in Australia since a large number of its citizens died in terror attacks in Bali in 2002 and October of this year. The government's recent warning about the possibility of an attack by homegrown Muslim terrorists contributed to the spread of such sentiment. The fact that large numbers of whites, the majority race, came out en masse and made the situation worse is not unrelated to that.
Prior to the riots in France there was a terrorist attack by Muslim youths in the United Kingdom, and the terrorist attack on a subway in Spain in March of last year was also the act of Muslim citizens. The Muslim population in Australia is far smaller than in those other countries, with only 300,000, or 1.5 percent of the population. Nevertheless, the unrest shows you the situation has become on in which work is needed on a scale that goes beyond any one nation. The point of departure for that effort needs to be a quick end to the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. It is time to end or entirely change the direction of the war on terror, which has merely exacerbated conflict with the Muslim world while not achieving its goal.
Korea must not consider the integration of minorities as just something other countries need to do. Such incidents always occur where they were previously unthinkable. Korea's deep-rooted sense of ethnic unity could become a major obstacle to what needs to be done.
The Hankyoreh, 14 December 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
