Hazara asylum seekers inside Darwin detention centre released the statement below to explain the aims of their recent protest.
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We the Hazara Afghan asylum seekers held a peaceful protest in Darwin detention centre with number of 100 asylum seekers on September 24.
We strongly condemn the act of target killings of Hazaras in Pakistan and Afghanistan and we pass our condolences to those grieved families.
The aim of the protest was to let the humanitarian nations and the UN know about the Hazaras' persecutions and genocide in Pakistan and Afghanistan and take notice of the Hazaras' target killings. Asylum seekers from different compounds gathered and shared their concerns.
The asylum seekers held banners saying: “Is being Hazara still a crime?”; “Why UN is silent?”; “Stop killing of innocent Hazaras”, “Is there any one to hear Hazara’s voices?”; “NO More Killings”, and “UN wake up and take notice of the current situations”.
The protest was held following news that from August 31 until September 23, more than 60 Hazaras were executed ruthlessly in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
When on February 2, 2009, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees sub-office chief John Soloki from the Chaman Housing area in Quetta, Pakistan, was kidnapped, the whole world raised their concerns and protested worldwide, but today when Hazara genocide has reached to its peak, none of the nations of the world takes notice of this.
Our demands to the immigration department was to know that Hazaras live a colonial life which consists of a father, a mother, sisters and brothers, whose lives are in extreme danger in Pakistan and Afghanistan and the asylum seekers are much too concerned about their families living as illegal refugees in Pakistan and Afghanistan where is no life guarantee for any Hazaras.
The peaceful protest continued for two hours and at the end of the peaceful protest the asylum seekers returned to their compounds.
But the anxiety and their worries remain. We would like to request all Hazaras of the world to raise their voices against the brutalities on innocent killings of Hazaras.
[Republished from the Refugee Action Coalition Sydney website.]