Appeal to the Aussie government for sympathetic consideration of the cases of Hazara asylum-seekers

Hazara People | January 04, 2011

The centuries-long oppressed and under-represented ethnic Hazaras may have viewed a gleam of hope when they put their lives at a stake to embark on an, otherwise, perilous journey; thousands of miles away to Australian shores but, unfortunately, hundreds of them are compelled to live a miserable life in their detention centers.

The dejected and desperate people of Hazara sell off all their movable and immovable property so as to save up some money to go to Australia in search of comfortable life. As estimated over $15,000 US dollars go in to the pockets of various agents/human-traffickers who throng dozens of people like livestock onto dilapidated wooden boats with no guarantee to get to Australian shores safely.

The Hazaras are massacred in Afghanistan in the name of race, ethnicity and religion by the Taliban. The Taliban disguised as the Pashtun Kochis (Nomads) dare to infiltrate agricultural land of Hazaras in Central Afghanistan (Hazarajat) on yearly basis. In an attempt to show off their latest weapons and high-handedness, the Pashtun nomads cum the Taliban loot valuables, houses, shops and crops of ethnic Hazaras in broad day light. Those who resists, they are killed ruthlessly and these mass human rights violations are happening under the nose of Hamid Karzai, the incumbent Afghan President.

Hamid Karzai, being an ethnic Pashtun, has always underestimated the real strength and capabilities of the Hazaras of Afghanistan. He also openly opposed the induction of 5 Hazara candidates into Afghan cabinet and blocked their induction on one pretext or another. Worst to say is the truth that the Afghan Government and International donor agencies are spending millions of dollars in reconstructing the infrastructures in the Pashtun-inhabited areas or the Pashtun provinces whereas the Central Afghanistan including Bamyan is deliberately kept deprived of these basic amenities of life. There is no proper hospital or educational institution in Bamyan. The Hazaras are the second largest ethnicity in Afghanistan who account for over 28% population, i.e. over 10 million in entire 27 million population of the country.

Numerous credible reports from the UN, the Red Cross, NATO, ISAF and human rights organisations have confirmed the deteriorating law and order situation in Afghanistan which is also posing potential life threats to ethnic Hazaras. According to the July, 2010 report of a London based Human Rights Organisation (the Minority Rights Group), the Hazaras have been declared as the third most threatened minority in the world.

The Hazaras, due to their ethnicity, race and religion are easily targeted by the Taliban and its affiliated terrorist groups. They were also forced to migrate to Pakistan and Iran during the regime of Abdur Rehman (1880 -1898) but in neighbouring countries, they (the Hazaras) face the worst brutalities.

The Hazara refugees in Iran are compelled to live an unbearably miserable life with many returning to Afghanistan in worst conditions. The majority of Hazaras in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere are against the state and foreign policies of Iran due to the fact that Iranian government has always supported, financed and harboured anti-Hazara elements who are involved in massacre and genocide of this ethnicity.

The growing influence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan has left no option for Hazaras except migrating to European countries including Australia. They deserve equal opportunities and respect.

We, from this platform, earnestly appeal to the Government of Australia to consider the cases of Hazara asylum-seekers on humanitarian grounds and grant them permanent stay in Australia. The refused cases of the people of this ethnicity may kindly be reconsidered in view of current unfavourable circumstances in Afghanistan and Pakistan.