The Lebanese Muslim community organisations have condemned Immigration Minister Peter Dutton for suggesting the arrival of Lebanese Muslims in the 1970s is partly to blame for Australia's struggle with foreign fighters.
Lebanese Muslims have slammed Immigration Minister Peter Dutton for suggesting former prime minister Malcolm Fraser made a mistake in allowing Lebanese Muslims to migrate to Australia in the 1970s.
Mr Dutton said the descendants of these migrants represented a large portion of those who had recently travelled overseas as foreign fighters.
"The advice I have is that out of the last 33 people who have been charged with terrorist-related offences in this country, 22 of those people are from second and third generation Lebanese-Muslim background," he said in parliament after being pressed on the issue during Question Time on Monday.
He made similar comments last week when he said the Fraser Government "did make mistakes in bringing some people in".
The Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA) has issued a statement condemning the minister's view.
"Mr Dutton's comments are baseless, unfounded and uninformed," said association president Samier Dandan.
In a video, Mr Dandan said: "Let us not beat around the bush here, what Mr Dutton said was racist, what he implied was racist, and the lack of outrage in Parliament reflects on the racism underscoring much of how we talk about minorities in Australia."
