Hazara Association of Victoria, Australia

Hazara Returnees 'Targets of Violence' in Afghanistan - 15-Jan-2004
The Hazara community in Australia has good reason to be suspicious of Ahmad Shayeq Qassem's letter (8/1), despite it being the official view of the Afghanistan embassy. Similar to the Afghanistan transitional government, which is mainly dominated by members of Shura-i-Nizar (Supervisory Council) and Jamiat-i-Islami Party, the embassy of Afghanistan in Canberra represents only Tajiks.

Accordingly, it is not surprising that for the past four years they have not made any effort to support the Hazara refugees and asylum seekers in Australia and Nauru. Qassem's statement that Hazaras do not have genuine refugee claims based on their ethnicity is yet another indication of his blind prejudice towards Hazaras.

His claim "there is no evidence to suggest that any particular social group - or any returnees - could be the target of violence" is entirely at odds with reports issued by independent sources. The bloody events of the Afshar district and western Kabul in the mid-1990s in which the Supervisory Council and Jamiat Party militias rampaged through the Hazara inhabited area - murdering, raping and burning homes - are well documented in Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reports.

Last year, Amnesty International reported that: "Hazara returnees, many of whom have come back to live in western Kabul, are often targets of violence and petty crimes in that area, some of which is carried out by rival ethnic groups." A Reuters report of the murder of 12 members of the Hazara ethnic group in Helmand province (8/1) further proves that Qassem's claims are utterly wrong.
Furthermore, his comment that "it is neither fair nor realistic to extend the past perception of Afghanistan's situation to conditions there now" is misleading. Given the history of bloodshed, massacres, ethnic cleansing and civil war, particularly over the past three decades, one might seriously ask whether it is realistic to assume that all this would cease with the fall of the Taliban regime.

After 23 years of catastrophic events, Afghanistan has taken its first steps towards peace and unity. Let us hope that racism does not lead to the failure of the reconciliation process, which is the only hope for the oppressed people of Afghanistan.

Mohammad Arif Fayazi,
public relations officer, the Association of Hazaras in Victoria
 

RAFI       NEW JERSEY, USA

When Ahmed Shayeq Qaseem, Afghan ambassador to Australia issues statements which says "Hazara Refugees are not acceptable in Australia" leaves no doubt he is baised against Hazaras, who happens to make up overwhelming majority of the refugees held in modern nazi camps. This statment itself, by Afghan ambassodr Qaseem, proves the degree of prejudice and intolerance agains the Hazaras. Qaseem's motives in issuing such statements is a clear indication of continual suppression of Hazaras. He is attempting to deny Hazaras a better life in the enlightened west, social mobility and eduacation, opportunities denied to Hazaras in modern history of Afghanistan and inhumanely so. Its sad that the Australian authorites has formed an alliance with oppressors, such as Amb.Qaseem. It is sad that Australian authorities ignore the history and ground realities of Afghanistan. Reprots from reliable sources indicate that security in Afghanistan is very dangerous and especially for the vulnerable Hazaras. Recently twelve Hazaras were brutally murdered in Afghanistan. Such ethnic and religous motivated violence continues against the Hazaras all over Afghanistan. Another report by the New York Times' Carlotta Gall,  dated 01/14/2004, talk about voilence and lawlessness all over Afghanistan, but particularly in two distircts of Urzgan province, populated by the ethnic Hazaras. Here is an excerpt from the reprot "The level of the rule of law varies, but for example in Uruzgan Province, in Daikundi and Sharestan districts, since the government does not rule there, there are all types of violations - seizing and burning of property, kidnapping of women, rape, murder and forced marriage," he said. "Also we find innocent people are put in jail for a very long time and for no reason," he said."

Another extended report by Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty's Dari section, interviewed the victim's of these disricts who had fled to Kabul and pleading for help from UN and Karzai's weak administration. The victims spoke of wide spread torture, rape, forced marraiges, land grabs, kidnapping and other crimes by the local commanders supported by the current commerce minister Sayed Mustafa Kazemi.

If these refugees held in Austrlian camps and sent back to Afghanistan, its highly likely that these refuges will face the same fate. Many of these refugees come form the areas where local commanders and warlords rule. Asutralia as a civilised nation and has a greater morale responsibility to treat these refugees with dignity and honor their grievences. Sending them back can very painful and tragic while casting a dark chapter on Asutralia's human rights records

Walayat Hussain Mongol -  QUETTA, PAKISTAN

It is submitted that I have received the message that Ahmed Shayeq Qaseem has passed a statement that "Hazara refugees are not acceptable in Australia". I think, this kind of statement is the shit of mouth and we must pay him with the same coin. In the current situation the Hazaras must not be spectators, they will have to take a strong step for the achievement of their legitimate rights. (Enough is enough). In this connection, I want to express the following few considerable lines:

• Everyone knows that  thousand and thousand of Hazaras are being massacred in Afghanistan for more than two centuries.
• During the Taliban regime (which comprised of mainly the Pashtoons and Osama  Bin Ladin, Mula Omar and Gul Badin Hikmat Yar etc) the Hazaras suffered very badly
• They precariously killed thousands of Hazaras
• Thousand of women and teen age children were victims of gang rape and majority of these women are still missing
• Their holy places like Mazar-e-Sharif, were dishonored by Taliban
• They were banned from performing their religious prayers and events, particularly in month of Muharam
• There was no opportunity for open trade for Hazaras, because of which they were retained beneath the line of poverty
• There was no room in government service for Hazaras

Precisely, the Hazaras always retained behind the curtain of atrocities in every field of life. Consequently, they took the way of refuge in other countries of the world.

So, in the light of above mentioned facts and according to the United Nations Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is any person who:

"...owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it." (Article-1A2)

 In the light of above definition there should not be any doubts whether Hazaras can be considered a refugee in Australia or other parts of the World.

You must remember one thing that the media is very fast; nothing can be concealed from any one particularly from the Foreign Agencies. Attrocities committed against Hazaras are open secrets. If they do not, we must inform them about all our sufferings and persecution that we have faced in Afghanistan in the hands of the Pushtoons.

 Deeming the above UN's definition the Pashtoon must not be accepted as refugees, because they are the oppressors and I would like to draw few lines in this connection:

1. Two centuries have passed that the pashtoons are ruling Afghanistan and the other nation of the country have always been deprived from their legitimate rights
2. There were the Pashtoons, who established Taliban as extremist group in Afghanistan.
3. They were the Pashtoons, who provided shelter to terrorists like Osama Bin Ladin in Afghanistan.
4. They were the Pashtoons, who organized the International Terrorist Group Al-Quaida and Taliban.
5. They were the Pashtoons, who invaded on NATO Force in Afghanistan.
6. They are the Pashtoons, who are attacking on American, Spanish, German and particularly Australian Army in Afghanistan every day.
7. They are the Pashtoons, who are in the Jail of Munabey.

There are many other National and International crimes, which were committed by the Pashtoons. Therefore, the Australian Government may be approached to declare them as International Terrorists and Oppressors.

Best regards

Walayat Hussain Mangol
Hazara Town , Quetta.

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