The boat was carrying between 250 to 380 passengers – 4 times the capacity – from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. Over 200 feared drowned; 70 passengers from Quetta, 18 survived, close to 50 reported missing.
HRCP demands urgent Govt action after Indonesia boat tragedy
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Commission said: “HRCP is saddened by the tragedy in Indonesian waters where the crew of a boat carrying around 170 Pakistanis as well as another 80 people of other nationalities
Lahore, December 20: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed deep sorrow at the death of at least 55 young men from Quetta’s Hazara community when a boat carrying around 250 people, 170 of them from Pakistan, capsized off Indonesia. HRCP has called upon Islamabad to help the families learn about the fate of the passengers as well as urgently address reasons that force Hazaras and other people from Balochistan to leave Pakistan even in the face of grave danger to their lives.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Commission said: “HRCP is saddened by the tragedy in Indonesian waters where the crew of a boat carrying around 170 Pakistanis as well as another 80 people of other nationalities, abandoned their passengers as the boat capsized in a fierce storm. At least 55 Hazaras from Quetta are believed to be dead and scores of Pakistanis remain missing. The passengers included over 70 youth from Quetta’s Hazara community. That the Hazara young men chose to leave Pakistan by taking such grave risks is a measure of the persecution the Hazara community has long faced in Balochistan. Other Pakistani passengers, also from Balochistan, were believed to be unemployed young men looking for a way to improve their life as well as businessmen who felt insecure amid growing incidents of kidnappings for ransom in the province, particularly in Quetta.
HRCP sympathises with the bereaved families and would investigate the matter further. As the identities of those who have drowned and others who are still missing remain unknown, the anxieties of the families in Pakistan are beyond description. Irrespective of how the young men ended up in Indonesian waters, the government must immediately facilitate the families’ access to information about the fate of their loved ones, ensure that the survivors get help and the recovered bodies are brought home.
HRCP also calls upon the government to take a long hard look at the state of affairs in Balochistan and reflect on the reasons that compel young men to take such grave risks in order to escape persecution, insecurity and poverty. The government must also identify and punish those who contributed to the death of the boat’s passengers by illegally ferrying them across borders. In view of its obligation to protect the lives of all citizens, the government must also take urgent steps to find a way to put an end to the persecution of the long suffering Hazara community.”
Zohra Yusuf
Chairperson
———————
Dec 19, 2011
Asylum-Seekers Boat enroute to Australia capsizes off coast of Trenggalek, East Java, Indonesia – The boat was carrying between 250 to 380 passengers – 4 times the capacity – from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. Over 200 feared drowned; 70 passengers from Quetta, 18 survived, close to 50 reported missing.
- Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) expresses condolences – Dec 21, 2011
- Human Rights Commission Pakistan (HRCP) demands action on Indonesian boat tragedy – Dec 21, 2011 – HRCP has called upon the government to help the families learn about the fate of the passengers as well as urgently address reasons that force Hazaras and other people from Balochistan to leave Pakistan even in the face of grave danger to their lives.
- Survivors: “captain and crew grabbed life vests and fled”
- Jan Ali Changezi – Hazara Minister of Education in Balochistan Assembly, Pakistan, has criticized Hazara Asylum Seekers “those who try to illegally migrate to other countries, they do injustice to their families and the country [Pakistan]” [ Source: BBC Urdu ]
List of Known Hazara Survivors:
Source: HDP
1) Karrar s/o Nauroz
2) Syed Raza son-in-law/o Syed Hashim
3) Ghulam Raza
4) Arif s/o Ali Muhammad
5) Hashim(babao)
6) Lala Khadim(tandor wala)
7) Baqir s/o Ali Muhammad
8) Sajjad
9) Murtaza
10) Muzaffar s/o Ahmed Ali
11) Nasir s/o Nauroz
12) Mehmood s/o Muhammad Jan
13) Sajjad s/o Ghulam Sakhi
14)Ali Dost s/o Ghulam Sakhi
15) Armaghan
16) Esmat s/o Muhammad Ali
17) Shafeeq s/o Ali Muhammad
18) Syed Zia s/o Syed Dawood Agha
Why do Hazaras take such extreme risks to reach foreign shores?
– There is an ongoing Genocide of Hazaras in Pakistan.
It is now an open secret that the terrorists committing the Genocide of Hazaras in Pakistan has the full support of the Pakistani Government. Over 600 Hazaras have been killed (firing squad, suicide bombs, targeted killings) and thousands permanently injured in the past 10 years. Not a single person has been brought to justice to date. The group that takes responsibility – Lashkar-e Jhangvi – is a state sponsored terror tool. A splinter of this same group has taken responsibility of recent attacks in Afghanistan. In a terror pamphalet thrown in Quetta, the LEJ has made references to their involvement in Hazara killings during 1990’s in Afghanistan. [ details ]
– There was a back-to-back 3-suicide attack in three different cities across Afghansitan to target Hazaras on the Shia holy day of Ashura killing at least 55 (that includes a number of children as young as 2 years old along with their mothers) and wounding hundreds more. In the past one month, 44 Hazaras enroute to Hazarajat have been forced off the bus (similar tactic used against Hazaras in Quetta, Pakistan) by the Taliban and killed by “firing squad” or slaughtered by knife. Taliban are 99% Pushtuns who have ruled Afghanistan for centuries and has wiped off an estimated 60% of Hazara population, sold thousands of Hazara men, women, and children as slaves, and taken their lands. The Taliban are supported by the Pakistan intelligence and financed by Saudi Arabia (and its proxies).
Links: [ Ashura Attack | Genocide in Afghanistan ]
– It is very common to see the International Media refer to Hazaras as “Shias” and label them as “pro-Iran.” In Iran, the use of word “Hazara” as ethnic identity is banned and for centuries used a deragatory word instead (“Berberi” i.e. Barbaric) which is an apparent reference to Hazara’s possible Mongolian lineage – [ details ]
News Links:
- HazaraPeople.com: From the Boats Tears Come – Dec 20, 2011
- Jakarta Globe, Indonesia: Scores Remain Missing in East Java Boat Sinking – Dec 19
- ABC News, Australia: Hundreds feared dead after asylum boat sinks – Dec 19
- BBC Urdu – Seventy passengers from Quetta – Dec 20
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