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‘Division, hatred and fear’: Muslim community concerned it’s fielding blame for Melbourne coronavirus spike

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‘Division, hatred and fear’: Muslim community concerned it’s fielding blame for Melbourne coronavirus spike

Recent media reporting is creating “division, hatred and fear” and has unfairly laid the blame for Melbourne’s coronavirus spike on Muslims, according to the Islamic Council of Victoria.

The Council’s Vice President Adel Salman told SBS News there was no evidence that Muslims, in particular, were responsible for causing the outbreak, but that hasn’t stopped the news media from focusing on the community.

“It plays to a narrative and it’s picked up by those who believe that narrative, that ‘here we go again’ Muslims are a threat, they are either trying to harm us with guns and bombs and cars, or now through virus,” he said.

“It’s completely unfair, there is no evidence for it and it doesn’t help, it doesn’t help make us safer, it doesn’t tackle the problem. And it stigmatises community and creates division and hatred and fear and that ultimately hurts us all,” Mr Salman added.

Several of Victoria’s recent coronavirus clusters have been based in the north and north-western suburbs, areas with high multicultural populations and with large Muslim communities.

These areas have been designated as community transmission hot-spots by the state government with a testing blitz announced for the coming days.

Popular columnist for the Herald Sun newspaper Andrew Bolt is just one of the many prominent voices to lay blame for the recent COVID-19 spike at the feet of multicultural communities.

News.com reported on Friday that a Melbourne man lost two of his jobs because his employer found out that he lived in a “hot spot” area and told him not to come to work.

Mr Salman said media crews have been sent out to these suburbs and are targeting Muslim residents with ill-informed views and then portraying them as if they were somehow representative of the whole community.

“That’s completely ridiculous. You can find ill-informed people like that in any suburb in Melbourne, they don’t represent the whole community,” he said.

“Muslims and the Muslim community have been very responsible throughout this pandemic, we have been exemplary by and large,” Mr Salman added.

People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your state’s restrictions on gathering limits.

Testing for coronavirus is now widely available across Australia. If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.

The federal government’s coronavirus tracing app COVIDSafe is available for download from your phone’s app store.

SBS is committed to informing Australia’s diverse communities about the latest COVID-19 developments. News and information is available in 63 languages at sbs.com.au/coronavirus

Source: SBS

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