Thank your for this article. I was only vaguely aware of the plight of the Hazaras, mainly because of controversy here over whether Hazaras are being persecuted in Afghanistan, and therefore whether it is safe to send Hazara refugees home.

I would be interested yo hear what you think Australians could do to affect the situation.

Australia won't do anything, they are in the courts fighting for the right to deport hazara refugees to Afghanistan to die.

Marilyn,
would you rather they come here & practice on Australians ? You really are off the planet girly.

Practice what?

We have to realise that Muslims have been demonised so the Western Oligarchs can steal their oil.911 was the lie to initiate it. http://www.ae911truth.org/

I wouldn't like to be a Hazara, Ahmadiya or a Shia in Pakistan.

Pakistan's one and only science Nobel Prize winner, Abdus Salaam, left his home country because of the persecution of his fellow Ahamdiya.

I also would not like to be a Sunni in Iraq right now. (Most of the Christians have already left).

Then again I would not like to be a Christian or Alawite in Syria. I think it will go hard with them once the Assad regime falls.

I would not like to be a North Korean of any description. North Korea is one great big prison.

I would not like to be a Turkish Kurd or a Sri Lankan Tamil.

I would not like to be a Copt in Egypt.

I would not like to be a Uighur in China.

I would definitely not like to be a woman in Afghanistan. It's bad enough now. It will be worse when the Taliban returns.

Come to think of it I would not like to be a woman in the tribal areas of Pakistan either.

I definitely would not like to be a Darfuri.

I am not trying to minimise the plight of your people Mr. Hekmat but, in truth, the media are very selective about whose suffering they deign to notice.

Here's some advice.

Find a way of blaming Israelis for your predicament. That will guarantee you attention.

Short of that I'm afraid you'll just have to suffer in silence.

:-(

C'est la guerre

If you bother to learn something about the complexities of the clans and the people of Afghanistan, you will be aware of the history of persecution of the Hazaras, regardless of who is in power. Most of the refugees coming to Australia from Afghanistan are Hazara if you bother to talk to them or welcome them. Sadly, most people, conditioned by the mass media, regard Islam as monolithic and all they know about the Taliban is that they hosted Osama bin Laden. The media really has a duty to present background information, like this Opinion column, to educate Australians.

How many people remember how the Taliban were welcome in Washington back in the 1990s to discuss oil and gas deals ? The hijackers of 11/9 were not Afghans, they were mostly Saudis but it was easier to attack Afghanistan than Saudi Arabia (or Pakistan). So NATO/ISAF never rarely cared about the Hazaras or the women of Afghanistan and they still don't. The best thing we can do is talk to them, welcome them, learn about the history of Afghanistan and encourage more articles like this one. Oh, and remember the vital role the "Afghans" played in opening up the Desert Centre in the 19th century.

Pedr Fardd wrote:

>>So NATO/ISAF never rarely cared about the Hazaras or the women of Afghanistan and they still don't.>>

Of course they don't. The Hazaras are not a fashionable cause.

To be a fashionable cause for the "Left" you must have the right enemies. Israelis or Americans are best but, at a pinch, Brits will do. If your enemies are Muslims you're not really a victim.

To be a fashionable cause for the "Right" you cannot be Muslim though exceptions are made for Muslim women persecuted by Muslim men and Uighurs persecuted by Chinese communists.

The Hazaras don't have a chance.

Pedr Fardd wrote

>>The best thing we can do is… learn about the history of Afghanistan>>

The politically correct answer is "Tell me more, I'm so interested."

Not being politically correct my answer is that I don't give a rodent's rectum about Afghanistan or its history. Once Australian troops have withdrawn – this afternoon at 3pm would be a good time to start the withdrawal – I shall ignore every article on Afghanistan I see in the media.

So far as I can see it is a backward hellhole populated by warring clans. Its contribution to civilisation is likely to be nil if not less. I personally do not blame anyone who wants to escape from that benighted country. My only request is that Afghans of whatever clan who settle here do not try and inflict their bizarre beliefs on me. They should be grateful they're in a better place and try and learn from the wider Australian culture.

The Right/Left analysis is correct to a point but you need to subdivide the Left. The Hard Left prefer to attack the USA and Israel as you say but the Libertarian Left, represented by Amnesty and Human Rights groups, do work across the board - and have for decades, e.g. support for Tibet and the Uygurs. It was interesting how many on the Right left Amnesty after the Cold War ended precisely because of this factor but Amnesty has always been consistent and has rebuilt its strength in the last 20 years, despite the Pope's fatwa about Catholics having to leave Amnesty.