The vigil was held November 20 after the City of Greater Dandenong Council in Melbourne’s southeast, home to around 12,000 Hazaras, voted to “formally recognise and condemn the dramatic escalation of genocidal violence against the Hazara people in Afghanistan” in late October.
The ‘Stop Hazara Genocide’ motion, tabled on 24 October, acknowledged “systematic discrimination and violence” against the Hazaras by state-run institutions and extremist groups in Afghanistan.
“The Hazaras have long been subjugated and subjected to discrimination, forced displacement and genocide primarily because of their ethnic and religious identity,” the motion reads.
Vigil participants in front of some of the Kaaj victims' protraits. Credit: Supplied/Abdullah Neshat
“Dandenong Council, although the first tier of government, is nonetheless the first government not only in Australia but around the world to formally recognise the Hazara genocide,” said Shabnam Safa, community advocate and chair of the National Refugee-led Advisory and Advocacy Group (NRAAG).
“And this is a big step because it starts from here,” she told SBS Dari.
“Dandenong should have recognised this, and it was better if it had done this a bit earlier as Dandenong has a huge Hazara population.”
Hazara targeted by Taliban, ISIS
Hazaras, the third-largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, have long been persecuted and targeted by Afghan state institutions and militant groups such as the Taliban and ISIS.
A recent Amnesty International report shows the Taliban have continued to “torture” and “extrajudicially execute” Hazaras.
In addition, a recent report by five members of the United Kingdom’s parliament said that the risk of genocide of Hazaras by ISIS and Taliban has increased in recent months, calling on the UK government to act as members of the UN Genocide Convention to protect the ethnic group and prevent the possible genocide of them.
Organisers call on the federal government to formally recognise Hazara genocide in Afghanistan. Credit: Supplied/Mehdi Rez
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has previously warned that Hazaras face “crimes against humanity or even genocide”.
A ‘Genocide Emergency Alert’ was also issued by Genocide Watch earlier in the year, warning that the “Hazaras face a high risk of genocide under Taliban rule”.
Call for genocide recognition
On 30 September 2022, a suicide bomber targeted the Kaaj Academic Learning Centre in a predominantly Hazara neighbourhood of Kabul, Afghanistan, killing at least 54 mostly Hazara teenage girls, and injuring another 112.
The attack prompted condemnation from the international community and human rights organisations, calling on the country’s de facto rulers to protect the Hazaras.
Shocked by the attack, Hazara activists from around the globe, including Australia, started the weeks-long #StopHazaraGenocide campaign.
#StopHazaraGenocide passed the 10 million mark on Twitter in mid-October, garnering support from international activists and politicians.
The Taliban responded to the campaign by initiating their own #UnitedAfghanistan, implying that the #StopHazaraGenocide campaign was somehow dividing the nation.
Hazara diaspora communities around the globe also participated in dozens of vigils and protests, calling on their governments to recognise the target killing of the Hazaras as “genocide” and to do more to protect them.
Dozens of community members attended a Sunday vigil in Dandenong to mark the 40th day since the attack on the Kaaj Learning Centre.
The event was also attended by Dandenong councillors and other local politicians.
Organisers of the event renewed calls on the federal government to “formally recognise and condemn the dramatic escalation of genocidal violence against the Hazara people in Afghanistan and actively support international measures to investigate and prevent such violence, including through the relevant United Nations’ bodies and mechanisms”.
Shabnam Safa hopes Australian federal politicians do more to protect Hazaras. Credit: SBS Dari/Sam Anwari
They also demanded the Australian government commit “20,000 emergency additional humanitarian intake (places) from Afghanistan focusing on at-risk groups such as Hazara people and granting permanent protection to Hazara refugees currently on temporary protection visas.”
Ms Safa said a number of Australian federal politicians were well aware of the community’s “pain” and she hoped this would eventually lead to more awareness and action.
