Afghan Hazaras not deterred by tougher immigration laws

Michael Edwards reported this story on Monday, October 15, 2012 08:05:00
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TONY EASTLEY: More than 500 asylum seekers arrived in Australia over the weekend and in Afghanistan ethnic Hazaras have told the ABC that tougher immigration laws will not deter them from paying people smugglers to get to Australia.

Hazaras are persecuted in Afghanistan and many have paid thousands of dollars to come to Australia by boat. They say it's worth spending the money and the time on Nauru for a chance to escape poverty and violence.

South Asia correspondent Michael Edwards reports from Kabul.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: War and persecution have forced hundreds of thousands of Hazaras out of the provinces and into Afghanistan's capital, Kabul. And on the streets they're quick to tell you they also want to get out of the country.

Many of them see Australia as the place to go.

HAZARA MAN (translated): Our people in Australia are happy. They accept us easily. There are more work opportunities.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: Tens of thousands of Hazaras have fled to Australia and many more want to come.

Feroza Qasem and her friend Zubaida Tahiri are two Hazara women living in Kabul. Lots of their friends have made the voyage.

ZUBAIDA TAHIRI: As we have heard, those who are there, they are happy from their life. That's why we would prefer Australia.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: They also want to go. They know the risks and they see people smuggling as a necessary evil.

FEROZA QASEM: I don't have that much money to pay. If I could find the money I will pay for going to Australia.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: Ramin Salik has a cousin in Jakarta waiting to get on a boat to Australia, courtesy of people smugglers, and he's saving up for the same journey.

RAMIN SALIK (translated): Yes, I am still looking forward and trying to go. I tried to go last year to find someone - a trafficker to get me to Australia. I will pay whatever it takes.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: The ABC has been told that rates for people smugglers range from $US10,000 to more than $US20,000.

The Australian Government has recently toughened its immigration laws by reintroducing offshore detention.

FEROZA QASEM: Yeah we know the rules become tough for refugees. Again, we want to go to Australia because our life is danger after 2014, we can't live, maybe Taliban come back.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: Zaheer Ali is a Hazara Refugee Advocate.

ZAHEER ALI: So people are very clearly looking for the betterment of their lives and I don't think so that any sort of action points by the Afghan government or any sort of action points by the Australian Government could stop asylum seekers going to Australia.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: Even those who have already tried and failed to get to Australia still want to come.

University teacher Abdul Ali got as far as Malaysia. He paid people smugglers there $20,000 before he was arrested by local police and deported back to Afghanistan. He knows it's tougher now but it's only made him more determined.

ABDUL ALI: I want to go again to Australia because the situation with security in Afghanistan is very, very bad for me and for those who are living in Afghanistan. Everyone wants to go there.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: To these people even life in a camp on Nauru is preferable to one of filled with violence and uncertainty.

TONY EASTLEY: South Asia correspondent Michael Edwards reporting from Kabul.

ABC News 

Five killed in Quetta violence

Monday, October 15, 2012
From Print Edition

QUETTA: At least three people were killed and one injured in an incident of firing in the provincial capital on Sunday night.

Deputy Inspector General Investigation Police Hamid Shakil said that unknown armed men riding a bike opened indiscriminate fire on a Suzuki car near the City police station, killing one person and injuring three others. The assailants managed to escape. Later, two of the injured succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

The police have cordoned off the entire area to trace the attackers. A further probe was under way.In another incident, a man was injured by unknown armedmen over an old enmity here at Killi Bangulzai near the Sariab area of the provincial capital on Sunday. According to police, the victim was identified as Maulana Juma Khan.

Meanwhile, a police constable injured his colleague at the University of Balochistan after an exchange of hot words. Both were on security duty there. PPI adds: Two persons were killed and three others sustained serious injuries in a sectarian attack here on Sunday evening.

According to details, a local jeweller Ishaq, his brother Ismail and two sons Salman and Naseem closed their shop and went to their home. On the way home when they had reached Abdul Sattar road, terrorists opened fire on their vehicle.

As a result, Ishaq and Ismail died on the spot. Two sons of Ishaq, namely Salman and Naseem, sustained serious injuries. A rickshaw driver Abdul Hannan was also injured in the firing. They were shifted to the civil hospital and then to CMH for treatment.

Three vehicles were also badly damaged in the firing.After the firing, a fear and panic gripped the Liaqat Bazaar and adjoining areas. Shopkeepers immediately pulled down their shutters and the area became deserted.

The News 

گزارش سفر استاد محمد کریم خلیلی به ولایت بامیان

Two killed in Quetta firing

October 14, 2012 - Updated 190 PKT
From Web Edition

QUETTA: Two people from the Hazara community were killed during a firing incident here on Sunday.

The incident took place on Abdul Sattar Road when unknown gunmen opened fire on a vehicle. Three others were injured and have been shifted to the Civil Hospital.

The area has been cordoned off by the police and an investigation has been launched. Police have also recovered a 9MM pistol from the site.

The News 

Where do we go from here?

On October 4, a Hazara public official Sikander Ali was killed and two other men were injured in an attack on their vehicle on the National Highway near Kuchlak. Days later, two Shia men were killed in Quetta.

Almost 1,000 Shias, mostly Hazaras, have been killed in Quetta in the last 10 years. Although attacks on Shias have increased across Pakistan, the Hazara ethnic community in Balochistan has been especially targeted. One in 500 people of this small community of half a million have been killed in Balochistan since 1999. Around 25,000 Hazaras - about 5 percent of the entire Hazara population in Balochistan - have left the province for Afghanistan, Europe and Australia since 2001.

Most young Hazara people cannot attend universities and colleges in Quetta because of security fears. Data compiled by the Hazara Students Federation shows admissions of Hazara students in Balochistan University have declined by 42 percent since 2008, and enrolment in colleges outside Hazara-dominated areas has decreased by almost 95 percent.....Continue Reading.... 

نامزدهای دریافت جایزه صلح نوبل

A DESPERATE VOYAGE: HOW MUCH WOULD YOU RISK TO START A NEW LIFE IN AUSTRALIA?

"I could see the death in front of me" — listen to the hair-raising reality of seeking asylum in Australia. Two ship-wrecked asylum seekers cheat death, make a daring escape, and now face the wrenching choices of a life in limbo.

“ Hi Aubrey, it’s Barat Ali Batoor. I’ve escaped. I’m on the way to Jakarta. Where are you?”

FIRST DAY: HAZARA ASYLUM SEEKERS HUDDLING BELOW THE DECK OF THE BOAT ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE JOURNEY TO AUSTRALIA. MOST PASSENGERS WERE INSTRUCTED TO STAY OUT OF SIGHT TO AVOID DRAWING SUSPICION FROM OTHER VESSELS.

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“ Now I can feel how the death is, how you see the death. When you see it really close to you.”
“ The boat is not in a good condition to take you further. The water is also very bad. So if you go ahead, I will take you, but that is completely, 100 per cent death and you will be responsible for your lives.”
“ We can’t live in Afghanistan or Pakistan. If I got back to Afghanistan or Pakistan, I will be killed.”


It was 5am when I was woken by a phone call.


"Hi Aubrey, it's Barat Ali Batoor. I've escaped," he said, his voice buzzing with adrenaline. "I'm on the way to Jakarta. Where are you?"

Just the previous day, I had been talking to Batoor on the phone and he had been in despair. Despair because Batoor had made a break for Australia in a shoddy wooden boat with more than 90 other Hazara asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Pakistan. The boat had nearly sunk in rough seas, and had been forced to run ashore in a remote corner of western Java. After two days stranded in the jungle, they had been captured.

When Batoor had first called, he had been on his way to immigration... Continue Reading...