BYTAMARA PEARSON
SYDNEY — Around 250 of the refugees in Woomera belong to the Hazara ethnic group from Afghanistan. Zaher, a long-time activist in Afghanistan before he escaped in 1999, explained to Green Left Weekly why immigration minister Philip Ruddock's claim that it is safe for refugees to return is wrong.
In 1993, thousands of Hazara people were killed in western Kabul. The new foreign minister of Afghanistan, and members of the new government, took part in that massacre, said Zaher.
In the January 21 Sydney Morning Herald, Ruddock said that, after the fall of the Taliban, conditions in Afghanistan were suitable for people to return to their homeland.
“The current ‘changes' in Afghanistan are deceptive”, Zaher said. “Putting two women in the cabinet, allowing music — these are band-aid solutions designed to mislead the people and the international media. Afghanistan has changed very little. Power is still based on race or clan, the law is still based on Islamic fundamentalism.
“The new regime and the Taliban are different sides of the same coin, both have been shedding blood for 22 years. The war in Afghanistan hasn't stopped, its continuation is in the best interests of the new regime. The terror is continuing, people fear and do not accept this new regime. Refugees from Pakistan are not returning home, and many more are arriving at the border. There are still many people in Afghanistan who would flee if they could.”
From Green Left Weekly, January 30, 2002.
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