Newly Discovered Natural Arch in Afghanistan is One of World’s Largest

28 March 2011 | Bamyan Province, Afghanistan

Ayub Alavi/Wildlife Conservation Society

Wildlife Conservation Society researchers working on a USAID-funded project in Afghanistan discovered this natural arch in Bamyan Province.

Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have stumbled upon a geological colossus in a remote corner of Afghanistan: a natural stone arch spanning more than 200 feet across its base.  Located in the central highlands of Afghanistan, the recently discovered Hazarchishman Natural Arch is more than 3,000 meters above sea level, making it one of the highest large natural bridges in the world.  It also ranks among the largest such structures known.
While implementing USAID’s Improving Livelihoods and Governance through Natural Resource Management Program, WCS researchers Christopher Shank and Ayub Alavi discovered the massive arch in late 2010 while surveying the northern edge of the Bamyan plateau for wildlife.  The researchers returned to the natural wonder in February 2011, to measure it.  The total span of arch—the measurement by which natural bridges are ranked—is 210.6 feet in width, making it the 12th largest in the world.  This finding pushes Utah’s Outlaw Arch in Dinosaur National Monument—smaller than Hazarchishma by more than four feet—to number 13 on the list.
“It’s one of the most spectacular discoveries ever made in this region,” said Joe Walston, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Asia Program.  “The arch is emblematic of the natural marvels that still await discovery in Afghanistan.”
The world’s largest natural arch—Fairy Bridge—is located in Guangxi, China, and spans a staggering 400 feet in width.  Several of the top 20 largest natural arches are located in the state of Utah in the U.S.
With support from USAID, the government of Afghanistan has launched several initiatives to safeguard the country’s environment and the wildlife it contains.  In 2009, the government declared the country’s first national park, Band-e-Amir, approximately 100 kilometers south of Hazarchishma Natural Arch.  The park was established with technical assistance from USAID.  USAID also worked with Afghanistan’s National Environment Protection Agency to produce the country’s first-ever list of protected species, an action that now bans the hunting of snow leopards, wolves, brown bears, and other species.  USAID also works to limit illegal wildlife trade through educational workshops at military bases across Afghanistan.
USAID’s Improving Livelihoods and Governance through Natural Resource Management Program addresses biodiversity conservation issues and improves natural resource management in the Wakhan corridor in Badakhshan Province and the Hazarat plateau in Bamyan Province.  USAID is working with more than 55 local communities to build Afghanistan’s capacity to conserve and sustainably manage its natural resources, improve the livelihoods of the rural poor in northeast and central Afghanistan, and strengthen linkages between local communities and regional and national government institutions.
“Afghanistan has taken great strides in initiating programs to preserve the country’s most beautiful wild places, as well as conserve its natural resources,” said Peter Zahler, Deputy Director for the WCS Asia Program.  “This newfound marvel adds to the country’s growing list of natural wonders and economic assets.”
The WCS saves wildlife worldwide through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo.  Together, these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony.
USAID, through the WCS, is taking an innovative, coordinated approach to protecting fragile upper watersheds in two Afghanistan provinces – Bamyan and Badakhshan – while improving natural resource management and increasing biodiversity at the local and national levels.

Rising tensions predicted in detention centre

A leader in Western Australia's Afghan Hazara community has warned tensions will continue to rise at the Curtin detention centre unless something is done soon.

A 20-year-old man from the Hazara minority is believed to have taken his own life at the centre in the state's far north after waiting months for his asylum application to be processed.
Mohammed Asif Atay was found dead in his room by friends at the centre yesterday.
He had been waiting for a decision on his asylum application for 10 months.
The ABC has been told security officers were driven back by angry Afghan inmates as they tried to retrieve the man's body.
The Immigration Department is rejecting allegations that guards were attacked.
Hazara leader Sajjad Hassini says mandatory detention is placing too much stress on asylum seekers.
"Everything has a limit, once it goes beyond the limit, it explodes so definitely it will go worse and worse," he said.
He believes the Federal Government is repeating the mistakes of the Howard era.
"I think this government is making the same mistake that John Howard committed in his term towards asylum seekers by pressurising psychologically to return to their home countries which is openly a violation of the United Nation's human rights charter," he said.
Refugee rights campaigner Marcus Hampson says long term mandatory detention is pushing detainees to the edge.
"What you're seeing is the self-harm and the suicide is people internalising their frustrations, internalising the sense of hopelessness and loss," he said.
Mr Hampson says mandatory detention has a huge impact on the mental health of detainees and the man's suicide, and his friends' reactions, illustrate its damaging effects.
The Department of Immigration has declined to comment on the circumstances of the man's death.
Refugee advocates are warning the rising tension at the centre could spill over into protest and unrest.

Source,

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/29/3177068.htm?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_content=news

Asylum seeker dies at Curtin

ADRIAN BEATTIE, The West Australian March 28, 2011, 6:27 pm

Officials at the Curtin detention centre near Derby are investigating the apparent suicide of an asylum seeker.
An Afghani male, aged about 19 or 20, was found dead about 3pm today.
It is believed he hanged himself.
A spokesperson for the Department of Immigration confirmed that there had been a death and said that detainees and detention centre staff tried to revive the man by administering CPR.
He said that officers from the Western Australia Police would investigate the circumstances of the death. He said the department wished to extend its sympathy to the man's family and friends.
The West Australian understands the asylum seeker was a recent arrival at Curtin and was a member of the Hazara community, an ethnic and religious minority in Afghanistan.
Victoria Martin-Iverson from the Refugee Action Network said: "This is what happens when our Immigration Detention Centres become mental illness factories. This young man is not the first to end his life in this way, having reached the end of his coping mechanism."
Ms Martin-Iverson said that this latest suicide by an asylum seeker was the sixth in seven months within detention centres on the Australian mainland.
New figures from the UN's refugee agency show there was a huge jump in the number of people applying for asylum in Australia last year even though the rest of the Western world saw a decrease in claims.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees said the number of asylum applications in Australia and New Zealand increased by 30 per cent during 2010 from the previous year, while around the world asylum applications fell by 5 per cent.
The large drop was attributed almost entirely to the collapse in asylum applications in southern European countries such as Italy and Greece due to new hard line policies.

Source,

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/9089760/asylum-seeker-dies-at-curtin/

Building Historical Narratives: The Bamiyan Project to Convene Groundbreaking Conference Focusing on Areas Emerging From Conflict

WASHINGTON, March 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- At the invitation of The Bamiyan Project, 25 scholars, activists and media personages from Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Bosnia will meet in the inspiring setting of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia and Washington, D.C. for a multi-day conference beginning on March 28 and running through March 31, 2011, to begin crafting a new, forward looking, democratic narrative for their respective countries, utilizing the rich material their histories provide and following a template premised on tolerance, inclusiveness and constructive social cohesion.
Invited participants include Honey Al Sayyed, Syria's most popular talk radio personality; Bosnian investigative journalist Esad Hecimovic; Iraqi blogger Karzan; and a group of Afghan and Iraqi scholars, educators, archaeologists and historians.
The Bamiyan Project, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., is dedicated to the support and encouragement of cultural activism to prevent, restore and overcome the threats posed to civilization's achievements by war, conflict and social division.
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia, a sponsor of the Narratives Conference, operates the largest living history museum in the world. In Colonial Williamsburg’s 301 - acre Historic Area stand hundreds of restored, reconstructed, and historically furnished buildings. Costumed interpreters tell the stories of the men and women of Williamsburg – black, white, and Native American – during the American Revolution and the challenges they faced in creating a new nation. In this historic place, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation helps the future learn from the past.
For additional information on the conference or to arrange interviews with selected participants, please contact Dr. Cheryl Benard, the President and founder of The Bamiyan Project at (202) 670-7087 or Kristen Cordell at (202) 674-6337.

SOURCE The Bamiyan Project

NO safety guaranteed for those deported Afghan refugees! by Afghan MPs

School in Hazarajat Afghanistan

Afghans to be deported after bids rejected

• Sally Neighbour
• From: The Australian
• March 25, 2011 12:00AM

DOZENS of failed Afghan asylum-seekers are facing deportation after the federal government persuaded authorities in Kabul to agree to their forced repatriation, despite fears for their safety.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said his department was finalising plans to return a "small caseload" of about 50 people whose claims for refugee status had been rejected.
The Afghans are mostly men and are held on the mainland.
Mr Bowen said his department was "nearing the end of the process" and involuntary repatriations of Afghans would begin "over the coming months".
The move comes despite deep concerns held within the Afghan embassy in Australia about forcing asylum-seekers to return to the country, still embroiled in war and where ethnic Hazaras, who make up the bulk of those seeking asylum, still face persecution.
In January, the Gillard government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Afghan government, allowing for asylum-seekers whose claims had been rejected to be sent home.

But Kabul's envoy to Australia, Amanullah Jayhoon, insisted the deal applied only to voluntary returns. "It is very clear about voluntary readmitting. The word 'force' has not been used in any part of it," Dr Jayhoon said.
However, after further discussions with Kabul, Mr Bowen says the agreement has now been cemented and deportations will begin shortly. "The agreement very clearly allows for involuntary returns," Mr Bowen said.
Dr Jayhoon was not available to comment yesterday.
A diplomatic source said there had been "very little consultation" over the MOU and the Afghan government had been given "very, very little say" in the decision.
"I can't see any reason why the Afghan government would want them back, but they have to say it."
The source said the decision was "very unfortunate" as failed asylum-seekers, particularly Hazaras, could face retribution for having fled their homeland.
"The way they get treated back home in Afghanistan is a disgrace," the source said. "If it's found they tried to escape, they could be killed."
The plan for forced repatriations comes as the government moves to cut the number of asylum-seekers being held in overcrowded, under-staffed immigration detention centres around Australia, following last week's riots and fires at Christmas Island.
Detainee numbers are at a record high after the arrival of 207 boats carrying 10,326 people since the beginning of 2009.
Afghans have been by far the biggest single group, making up 46 per cent of "irregular maritime arrivals" in the past two years.
Until last year, Afghan asylum-seekers enjoyed a success rate as high as 96 per cent, which was one factor that prompted the government to freeze new applications from Afghans and Sri Lankans last April.
The freeze on Afghans was lifted late last year, but their claims are now being rejected at a rate of about 50 per cent because the government argues it is safe for them to return home.
The MOU was endorsed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, but The Australian understands there is concern at high levels within the UNHCR about the agreement.
The chief executive of the Refugee Council of Australia, Paul Power, says the council has received expert advice that it is still dangerous for ethnic Hazaras to be returned to Afghanistan.
He said the council was concerned a UNHCR offer to undertake "ad hoc monitoring" of returnees would not be sufficient to guarantee their safety.

Source,
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/afghans-to-be-deported-after-bids-rejected/story-fn59niix-1226027701488