Once again we have witnessed the tragedy of people dying in their attempt to reach Australia. This time it was Hazara families.
This tragedy brings out the best and worst of responses. Reactions are varied from compassion and commiseration
to some of the most hateful and brutal of comments.
Most of this is driven by ignorance of the reasons why people take a risky boat journey. So here are some facts you may wish to share.
Right now in Quetta, Pakistan many Afghan Hazaras have fled after being driven out of Afghanistan by Taliban and Pashtun militia.
Now they are being bombed and killed daily by Lashvi-i-Jangvi, another terrorist group.
This is why families are trying to get to Australia. For those who have a husband and father in Australia, there is a waiting list of five to ten years for family reunion and years even for a spouse visa.
Hazaras are the largest group of refugees in the world for obvious reasons and they are a minority who are targetted by Taliban and other brutal militias.
In order to fulfil the visa requirements, Australian immigration demand that people travel to Islamabad 900 km away to do health checks with an Australian Approved Panel Doctor and that they have DNA testing at great expense with swabs taken in the presence of an Australian immigration officer. Many have no documents so cannot fly but have to take the dangerous bus journey 900 km overland. The roads are controlled by Taliban who extort taxes from the bus drivers. When they see Hazaras on the buses they take them out and kill them. For this reason there are weeks when the bus comanies refuse to take Hazaras becasue they could be targetted by Taliban.
In addition Australian immigration are asking that the wives go to Kabul, another dangerous overland journey back into the country from which they have fled in order to get their taskeras (birth certificates ) stamped. Families wait years in hiding in Quetta to even start this process and after completing all this they must still wait. we all know people in Australia who have lost sons, brothers, daughters and wives in the recent bombings. We see their grief.
Immigration and politicians know the problems because lawyers and migration agents keep telling them. Now at last an alternative to have the processing done in Quetta is being discussed but in the meantime the dangerous life threatening journeys are still required to fulfil formal visa requirements.
So when the politicians and media talk about sending people to Nauru and Manus to stop the dangerous boat journeys-
Ask them what they are doing to stop making these dangerous boat journeys the only choice for people fleeing for their lives.
If your choice is being bombed or killed by Taliban on a bus or street in Quetta which you have witnessed happening
or taking a chance on a boat to Australia which you have never seen before what would you choose?
If our politicians really cared they would start managing the arrival of asylum seekers, process their refugee applications fairly and settle those people who prove that they had valid claims- as we promised to do when we signed the UN Refugee Convention.
We have done it before and we could do it again if we changed the toxic political debate on asylum seekers and refugees.
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
12 Batman st West Melbourne 3003
ph 03 9326 6066 / 0417517075