Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to draw the attention of the House to the ongoing persecution faced by a number of religious minorities in Iraq. These religious minorities include various Christian groups such as the Chaldean Catholics, the indigenous Assyrians, Sabean Mandaeans, Syriacs and other Aramaic speakers who have all called the geographic area of Iraq as home for the last 2,000 years.

There are a number of undisputed reports by global organisations such as Amnesty International, UNHCR and the Catholic Church which clearly indicate that members of these ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq are subject to continuous persecution, often to the point of death. These reports also indicate that their persecution has clearly escalated since the 2003 involvement of the coalition of the willing in Iraq. According to the US State Department, prior to 2003 Christian leaders estimated that up to 1.4 million Christians and other religious minorities were living in Iraq. The latest figures show that the numbers have decreased to less than 400,000. Although the decrease is largely due to people fleeing to neighbouring countries, there have been many instances where people have been subject to targeted killings.

I spoke in this parliament in late 2010 when Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church in Baghdad was stormed by armed Islamic militants and 52 people were killed. The group that claimed responsibility, the Islamic State of Iraq, has publicly identified that their purpose is to rid the country of Christians and other minorities. These minorities have been declared legitimate public targets. This must cause great concern to us all as this is about ethnic cleansing.

In 2005 letters were distributed to the houses and businesses of Mandaeans demanding them to convert, leave Iraq or face death. Understandably, many fled as a result. I also understand that threatening posters have been put up on people's homes and shops demanding they leave the area within three days.

I recall the story of Nijem Abdallah, who had relatives who died in the attack on Our Lady of Salvation church in Baghdad. He previously owned a shop in Iraq but was forced to give it up and flee to Jordan due to constant harassment and threats to his and his son's life. Many, like Nijem, risk their lives all over again during the dangerous trip in search of a safe refuge. The roads of western Iraq, which lead to Syria and Jordan, have often been described as deadly dangerous—and for very, very good reasons—as people travel these roads without protection as they seek safety in neighbouring countries.

Those who are lucky enough to escape to neighbouring Syria, Jordan or Egypt often find themselves lacking basic facilities, essential human rights and the necessities of life. These countries are facing or have been subject to recent significant political unrest of their own and there is a lack of adequate resources for dealing with the growing number of refugees, not only in providing the necessities of life but also providing protection.

According to the Catholic Church, in a report that was released a little while back, as many as 1.2 million people have left Iraq since the invasion in 2003. Those who make it to a country like Syria usually stick together in what would generally be regarded as very much working-class suburbs, like Jaramanah, on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, where there is not a high prospect for the future. As a matter of fact, you would have to describe it as barely making ends meet and as barely a matter of survival. Refugees International reports that these people are being exploited and charged exorbitant prices for rent and other basic needs. The report further states that they are trapped in these miserable conditions, with little to no chance of a safe return to Iraq. They are increasingly becoming destitute, with little means of support.

For the Sabian Mandaeans the biggest threat is extinction itself. It is estimated that there are approximately 60,000 to 70,000 Mandaeans in the world today. A decade ago this was the number of Mandaeans living in Iraq alone. This number has now decreased to anywhere between 3,000 to 5,000, depending on the various reports. Mandaeans are followers of John the Baptist. They are a relatively little-known group that migrated from Palestine to the regions of southern Iraq in the 2nd century AD. They are pacifists and therefore handling of weapons is contrary to their belief. As a result, this has put them at risk and disadvantage, being in a war zone in southern Iraq.

Prior to the Iraq war, Mandaeans held a guarded yet solid position in the life of Iraq. Many were prominent lawyers, university professors and quite often successful artisans and gold and silver smiths. Like other groups in Iraq, Mandaeans have faced violence at the hands of sectarian and criminal groups. They face further discrimination and threats upon escaping to neighbouring countries. As I stated earlier, these countries have no resources to deal with the numbers of refugees fleeing Iraq. In Syria, the Mandaean religion is not recognised and there are no places of worship. They are not allowed to marry or mark their religion on the birth certificates of their newborn children. They are not allowed to legally work and are the target of forced conversion to Islam. They are also living under constant threat of deportation back to Iraq.

Mandaean refugees across the Middle East face a bleak future and inevitably extinction without the aid of the international community. Due to the small numbers of Mandaeans who are left, it is imperative that they are relocated to countries with already-established communities. The answer is not for them to be further dispersed and isolated.

There are approximately 6,500 Mandaeans residing in Australia; many live within my electorate of Fowler and Laurie Ferguson's electorate of Werriwa. I hold regular meetings with representatives of the various minority groups from Iraq. Amad Mtashar is a frequent visitor to my office and a powerful advocate for the Mandaean community. On the weekend, I met with His Excellency Mar Jabriel Kassab, the Archbishop of the Chaldean Catholic Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, and also Samir Yousif, the Secretary of the Chaldean National Congress for Australia and New Zealand. Another person who is very much involved with the issues in Iraq is Hermiz Shahen, the Secretary of the Assyrian National Alliance. He has requested that I travel to Iraq in the very near future to see for myself the conditions that Assyrians and other Christian minorities labour under.

There is a need for a more compassionate response from the international community towards the growing humanitarian crisis faced by the religious and ethnic minorities both in Iraq and escaping Iraq. We have a moral responsibility as members of the global community who are fortunate enough to live in peace and prosperity. Our obligation also comes from the fact that the situation has worsened significantly since the coalition troops entered Iraq. Because of our involvement in that operation, Australia has an added moral responsibility to do everything it can to raise awareness of the issues and to assist the global community in ensuring protection of the victims.

I think this is an issue that should be addressed by the parliament. It is regrettable that, I understand, the opposition do not intend to have a speaker in this debate. This is something we have an obligation to do, as we were members of the coalition of the willing.

Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are many by-products of the allied intervention in Iraq. On a positive front there was the establishment of Kurdish autonomy and a movement towards more democratic institutions. But there are also multiple and very serious downsides: rampant malnutrition, a very high rate of death of young children and the destruction of the country's electricity and sanitation infrastructure—particularly in Baghdad. Another by-product, which the previous speaker touched upon and which I am pleased to say gained a bit more national coverage through the ABC's religious program in the last year, is the situation of the Mandaeans and other Christian groups in Iraq.

There is some conjecture about the derivation of the Mandaeans. On one side there are indications from their marriage rituals that they do stem from Judaism. They speak a dialect of Aramaic. Importantly, they do not believe in proselytising, so the point made about their very survival is crucial, because they do not recruit new members and so there is no real sense of growth potential. Importantly, as noted previously, they are also pacifists. They are a monotheistic group with their own particular religious documents. They heavily emphasise ritual—most crucially, the question of baptism. Baptism accompanies many other ceremonies, such as marriage. It is important for them in Australia and internationally. I have to say that I believe we have been more liberal than the United States with regard to access to clean waterways for baptism, which is a very central part of their core.

Australia has joined Sweden as a recipient nation for the various Christian groups from the Middle East. I had the privilege in a delegation recently to visit Sodertalje in Sweden, which is well known internationally for the high prevalence of Iraqi Christians, most particularly Syriacs, Chaldeans and Assyrians, but also Mandaeans. When I came back I provided some material to the Mayor of Fairfield about activities in Sodertalje. As alluded to earlier, this group is so small internationally and so dispersed that there is a challenge to their continued existence. This brings up a debate, when they contact us, as to whether Australia should actually take all of them. That is, of course, a challenging concept in an intake of only 13½ thousand a year. On the one hand we have a group that is struggling for its very existence but on the other hand we have the competing demands of so many other areas around the world.

The program on the ABC highlighted the very strong inclination of this group to retain their culture whilst, particularly in the case of children, integrating into Australia. The member for Fowler and I have attended many New Year events and other similar festivities. One thing that strikes you, and it was demonstrated by the ABC program, is the degree to which the children are part of the Australian education system. If you go to these events, the music is in a disco style for young Australians. The very strong message from Ahmed Mutasha and others is that they are very much here to stay; they are integrated into society and they are participating in our civic life.

Obviously the intervention by Allied forces meant that, in many cases, the already existing underlying bigotry in Iraqi society, which was perhaps smashed down by the Saddam Hussein regime, was basically allowed to escape. Additionally, these groups were, in a sense, blamed for being part of the intervention. You might have had Tariq Ali and other Christians in some prominent positions in society but, once the Allies intervened, many people saw the Christian groups as Western oriented and aligned with the West and therefore partly responsible for the destruction of Iraqi society. That increased the fervent hostility and discrimination towards them. This has taken many forms, including kidnappings and extortion. Extortions are not confined to them but, because of their previous concentration in the occupations of goldsmithing and silversmithing, they are perceived to be people with money, so extortion obviously concentrates disproportionally upon them. They are also subjected to attempts at forced conversion to Islam—and this is not confined to them in the Middle East or Africa—and restrictions in society, discrimination et cetera.

An added problem in recent months has been the situation in Syria. Syria, for its many faults, has provided a degree of protection for Iraqi Christians fleeing in the Middle East region. Obviously the Assad regime, being an ally, tries to continue an alliance with Christian groups against the Sunni majority. That is why they have been quite liberal in allowing access to that country for this purpose. I note that the UNHCR has commented of their situation:

Once prominent goldsmiths, lawyers and doctors in Iraq, Mendaeans continue to be forced to convert to Islam or to leave the country, according to Mendaean sources in Damascus.

They go on to note that women without headscarves are currently major targets in the society, and others are forced to marry Muslim men et cetera.

We are facing a situation where dispersal means that the community is very threatened. Unless you have a concentration of numbers then it is hard to keep up practices, hard to retain culture and language. This is a crucial challenge to countries such as the United States, Sweden and Australia, which have been the countries most inclined to provide some protection. In 2002 the United States granted the Mendaeans protected status, but the situation in the United States in the interim has been very up and down in regard to the degree to which they have given access.

We in Australia have a very strong Mendaean community in the Western Sydney region from Liverpool outwards. I see many cases from this community about individuals who are in very strange circumstances in Syria, people who have had family members targeted and murdered. We are saying today that this situation should be recognised and that, when we consider Australia's humanitarian refugee intake under our immigration policy, we should continue to recognise the plight of these people. As I say, it is going to be intensified if the regime in Syria is indeed replaced. One negative aspect of that, and it is very difficult to see that it will be otherwise, is that there will be an increase in Sunni fundamentalism and hostility towards minorities. I hope otherwise, but it certainly is a possible outcome.

I join with the member for Fowler in expressing some concern that this important matter has not occasioned much interest from the opposition. I would have thought that historically there were people who had taken an interest in this region and who had ties with the Mandaeans in Sydney. I commend the resolution.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Since the first Gulf War some 20 years ago and then the second Gulf War a decade ago, a great number of refugees from Iraq—predominantly Christian and predominantly from the Chaldean, Assyrian and Syriac communities, but also Mandaeans—have come to Australia as refugees and asylum seekers, fleeing the ravages of war and instability and settling across Australia. Many have settled in my electorate of Calwell. In fact, the Chaldeans are our largest emerging community.

In the time I have been the member for Calwell I have had the opportunity to get to know the Chaldean, Assyrian and Syriac communities well. In the relatively short period of their settlement here in Australia they have settled well. They have built homes, they are educating their children, they are developing businesses and they are making a good contribution overall to our community. They always tell me that the thing they value most about living in Australia is the freedoms of our democracy, which allows them to celebrate their culture and language and also practice their faith without fear. They value the stability of our democracy and appreciate the opportunity to live in our multicultural society, and they embrace Australian citizenship in great numbers—adding to our diverse cultural expression.

However, the same cannot be said about the families, the people and the country they have left behind. Thousands of Iraqis, predominantly Christian minorities, and Sabian Mandaeans were forced to flee from the brutalities of war and persecution in Iraq. Although thousands now call Australia home, they remain concerned about the ongoing violent persecution of minorities in Iraq. Although nominally it is said that the war in Iraq is over and that the mission has been accomplished, the situation in Iraq remains precarious to say the very least. The political stability required to underpin the development of democratic institutions is not there, and many people belonging to the various minorities in Iraq continue to leave the country and look for asylum, especially here in Australia.

The anxiety my constituents from Iraq feel is still intense and very real, especially because they have family who are either still in Iraq or have fled to refugee camps in neighbouring countries—families they eagerly await reunification with and whose welfare they are very much concerned about. In my ongoing and frequent meetings with them they consistently request that the Australian government assist in pressuring the Iraqi government to secure the freedom and rights of minority peoples who have centuries-old associations and identification with Iraq and its indigenous peoples.

While we may have removed our troops from Iraq, we were very much a part of the execution of the war there, and our responsibility towards Iraq and its future is far from over. Iraq remains a politically volatile place. Constant bombings see no end to the killing of innocent civilians, and many people who are still left behind increasingly feel more insecure and afraid. Our responsibility is to ensure that Australia remains actively engaged in the future prosperity of Iraq.

I recently received in my office Mr. Amir Goga, who is a member of the parliament of the Kurdistan region for the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council list. He impressed upon me in no uncertain terms that the situation of minorities in Iraq remains perilous. He spoke of the many cantons of security pockets that are being created, each with their own competing militias continuing to threaten the stability and security of the minority Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syriacs and Mandaeans.

This parliament rightly condemns persecution and violence against minorities, especially on the basis of their faith. I want to congratulate the member for Fowler for bringing this private member's motion to the House today. The history of Christians in the Middle East goes back centuries. The war in Iraq was initially justified on the basis that we had to rid the world of the threat embodied in the person of Saddam Hussein and the so-called weapons of mass destruction. We got rid of Saddam Hussein and we proclaimed an end to the war in Iraq. However, Iraq now lies in political and social ruin. Nobody you talk to from Iraq—and I talk to many people—will tell you that things have improved. All evidence points to continuing violence towards civilians generally and minorities in particular. Not only should we condemn these attacks but we have a moral responsibility to make every effort possible to help the people of Iraq create the peace and security they were promised and for which they paid and continue to pay very dearly. It was the Howard government that committed Australia to the coalition of the willing, so I am very disappointed that no member of the opposition has stood up in this very important motion to speak in defence of the minorities, especially Christians, in Iraq who are constantly being persecuted and have had lots of violence perpetrated against them. It is very disappointing.

Democratic stability in Iraq was supposed to give people freedoms to secure the human rights and political expressions of the Iraqi people. It has not done that. On the contrary, the violence against Sabian Mandaeans and other minority groups in Iraq is a testament to this. My colleagues have spoken about the historical connections of the Mandaean people to the region known as Iraq today. The ancient faiths and cultures of the region are embodied in the Mandaean culture. There is a remaining community of only 5,000 Sabians in Iraq. Ironically, there are some 5,000 living in Australia, and countless thousands of others have been forced to flee their native homelands. As my colleague noted, most of the Mandaean community has settled in Western Sydney and, like other Iraqi refugees, are very grateful to be living in Australia.

This parliament has a moral obligation to do whatever it can to assist the minorities that are trying to make a living and establish a life. A lot of Iraqis do not want to leave Iraq; they are forced to leave. Many of them would like to see genuine stability come to Iraq so they can actually get on with their lives. They were promised this when we went to war some 10 years ago but it has not been delivered yet. This parliament should do whatever it can to ensure that Australia remains actively engaged in the future stability and prosperity of Iraq.

Debate adjourned.