Thursday, November 19, 2009

Theory: Origins of Hazaras




The origins of the Hazaras are not fully reconstructible and thus debatable.

At least partial Mongol descent is difficult to rule out, because the Hazaras' physical attributes and parts of their culture and language resemble those of Mongolians. Thus, it is widely accepted that Hazaras do have Mongolian ancestry, if not direct male-line descent from Genghis Khan, as some Hazaras allege. Some Hazara tribes are named after famous Mongol generals, including the Tulai Khan Hazara named after Tolui, the youngest son of Genghis Khan. Theories of Mongol or partially Mongol descent, are plausible, given that the Il-Khanate Mongol rulers, beginning with Oljeitu, embraced Shia Islam. Today, almost all Hazaras adhere to Shiism, whereas Afghanistan's other ethnic groups are mostly Sunni.

Another theory proposes that Hazaras are descendants of the Kushans, the ancient dwellers of Afghanistan famous for constructing the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Its proponents find the location of the Hazara homeland, and the similarity in facial features of Hazaras with those on frescoes and Buddha's statues in Bamiyan, suggestive. However, this belief is contrary not only to the fact that the Kushans were Indo-European Tocharians, but also to historical records which mention that in a particularly bloody battle around Bamiyan, Genghis Khan's grandson, Mutugen, was killed, and he ordered Bamiyan to be burnt to the ground in retribution, renaming it Ma-Obaliq ("Uninhabitable Abode") while replacing the local population with his armies and settlers[citation needed].

A third theory, and the one accepted by most scholars, maintains that Hazaras are a very mixed race. This is not entirely inconsistent with descent from Mongol military forces. For example, Nikudari Mongols settled in eastern Persia and mixed with native populations who spoke various Iranian languages. A second wave of mostly Chagatai Mongols came from Central Asia and were followed by other Turko-Mongols, associated with the Ilkhanate (driven out of Persia) and the Timurids, all of whom settled in Hazarajat and mixed with the local Persian population, forming a distinct group.
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HAZARA GENETICS-MONGOL LINKED Y-CHROMOSOMES



HAZARA GENETICS-MONGOL LINKED Y-CHROMOSOMES

Genetically, the Hazara are primarily a mixture of eastern Eurasian and western Eurasian peoples.

Genetic research suggests that they are related to neighboring peoples, while there also seems to be a distant relation to Turkic and Mongol peoples of Inner Asia,such as the Uyghurs of China.

A Mongol element in the ancestry is supported by studies in genetic genealogy as well, which have identified a particular lineage of the Y-chromosome characteristic of people of Mongolian descent ("the Y-chromosome of Genghis Khan"). This chromosome is virtually absent outside the limits of the Mongol Empire except among the Hazara, where it reaches its highest frequency anywhere. About two thirds of the Hazara males sampled carry a Y-chromosome of this lineage.
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Friday, October 30, 2009

Kids destined for detention: Jakarta



SENIOR Indonesian officials have rejected outright a claim by Kevin Rudd that women and children asylum-seekers aboard the Oceanic Viking could be accommodated in regular housing, rather than behind razor wire in an Australian-funded detention centre.

"We've already got a detention centre (at Tanjung Pinang) and in it we already separate men and women," the Foreign Ministry's most senior official for international security, Sujatmiko, told The Australian.

"Indonesia does not need to be directed how to act. We've gotten the detention centre ready and we've already helped Australia for humanitarian reasons.

"There is commitment from both sides, and Indonesia has the commitment, but Indonesia is not your country."

A spokesman for Mr Rudd said last night that the Prime Minister stood by his earlier comments.

On Wednesday, Mr Rudd told parliament: "The Indonesian authorities have advised the government that women and children will be offe

red the option of staying in a house near the Tanjung Pinang detention facility.

women and children will be offered the option of staying in a house near the Tanjung Pinang detention facility."

The Prime Minister's office did not respond to Dr Sujatmiko's comment last night.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's most senior adviser on international affairs, Dino Patti Djalal, also refused to confirm claims made by Mr Rudd in parliament that the women and children among the 78 Sri Lankans would be housed separately.

After a brief silence in response to the question yesterday, Mr Djalal said simply: "I couldn't comment on that. We're waiting for Australian officials to go on board later today and convince them to come off, because that's all they can do.

"They're on Australian territory so we can't do anything about it. We just hope Australia can get them off the boat."

Mr Rudd's "Indonesia solution" is facing growing opposition from Jakarta, with senior Indonesian officials saying they will not allow their country to become a processing site for Australia-bound boatpeople.

As officials continued to negotiate an end to the standoff with the 78 Sri Lankans aboard the Oceanic Viking, now in its 12th day, there were fresh signs the impasse was taking its toll on relations between Australia and Indonesia.

Yesterday, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said talk of an "Indonesia solution" to intercept the boats had become a sore in Indonesia.

"We don't want to be caught in the domestic issues in Australia," Mr Faizasyah told The Australian.

"We don't want to be the object of insults from your dynamic, political dynamic, in your country."

Mr Faizasyah said Indonesia has a "bigger picture" when it came to bilateral relations.

"This will certainly irritate Indonesia to be associated with a new form of policy which in your country itself is still being debated," he said.

Asked if it was likely Jakarta would agree to intercept and process more boats, Mr Faizasyah replied: "I don't think so. We are not a country to process refugees because more importantly we are not parties to the refugee convention, so what we are doing (is) only based on our humanitarian perspective."

But Dr Sujatmiko said Indonesian officials had responded promptly to Australian requests to supply food, water and other necessities to the Oceanic Viking, and in facilitating visa arrangements for an expected crew change aboard the vessel.

"We have helped with everything (possible) but we are not going to force (the asylum-seekers) to come off the boat," he said.

Indonesian officials also revealed privately they were furious at the inactivity from Sri Lanka through the crisis, and were talking privately about making Colombo directly responsible for repatriating the next boat load of Tamils they intercept. Strategists in Jakarta believe this would send "one of the strongest signals ... if next time one of these boats is picked up, it just gets sent straight back to Sri Lanka".

Mr Djalal suggested that the move "should give some discouragement to them (asylum-seekers), after making all that effort to get here".

Late yesterday afternoon the Sri Lankan ambassador to Indonesia agreed to visit the 78 Tamils on board the Oceanic Viking and make an offer of repatriation.

"If even half or a quarter of them could be repatriated, that would be a great thing," Mr Djalal said.

Security on the Oceanic Viking was ramped up yesterday, with the Sri Lankans herded behind fluorescent tape and kept under guard by armed Customs officials.

The Customs officers confirmed they had been directed to prevent any communication between journalists and the Sri Lankans.

Fellow Tamil refugee "Alex", on board the Jaya Lestari 5, a wooden cargo boat moored with 251 asylum-seekers at the port of Merak in western Java, said he could confirm that those on board the Oceanic Viking had had "at least one telephone communication with the outside world".

"However, I can tell you that contact is waiting for a follow-up call, so whether it came from one person on board who had a phone but no longer does, I couldn't say."

The Sri Lankans appeared relaxed yesterday, washing on the top deck where they were being guarded early in the morning and then retreating under tarpaulins and below deck when a violent thunderstorm struck in the middle of the day.

THE AUSTRALIAN

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Australia could use force against asylum seekers






Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has not ruled out the use of force by Australian officials against a group of asylum seekers who are refusing to leave a Customs ship, saying the Government is dealing with a "complex and difficult situation".

As the 78 asylum seekers spend their 10th day on board the Oceanic Viking off the coast of Indonesia, Mr Rudd has faced a barrage of questions in Parliament from the Opposition over the stand-off.

Despite a deal made by Mr Rudd and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for Indonesia to take the group last week they are yet to leave the ship and local officials are resisting efforts to bring them ashore.

With the issue dominating Question Time this week, Mr Rudd was repeatedly asked by the Opposition to detail his involvement in continuing developments but Mr Rudd would not elaborate on any discussions which he said were of a "diplomatic nature".

When asked whether Australian officials could use force against the asylum seekers, Mr Rudd replied: "We are dealing with a complex and difficult and challenging set of circumstances."

"I have confidence that our men and women who are working in these professional agencies will discharge their professional responsibilities with the greatest degree of skill and tact and humanity that they can, but this is a very difficult situation," he added.

The asylum seekers are due to be taken to a detention centre on the island of Bintan, but Mr Rudd says Indonesian authorities will not insist on locking up the women and children of the group.

"I'm advised by the Indonesian authorities that women and children will be offered the option of staying in a house near the Tanjun Pinang detention facility," he said.

The Opposition insists the Government's change in border protection policy is responsible for a recent surge in boat arrivals and Leader Malcolm Turnbull says the Government has "outsourced" the country's refugee program to people smugglers.

"Not one question about the Oceanic Viking has been answered other than with a contemptuous, savage and sneering attack on the Opposition," he said.

"The truth is that this debacle is a disaster entirely of the Government's own making."

Mr Rudd also also faced criticism from within his own ranks with Australian Workers Union boss Paul Howes saying the asylum seekers should be brought to Christmas Island.

"These are 78 people - can anyone really run any serious argument that this poses any threat to us whatsoever?" Mr Howes asked.

"The Prime Minister ... has the opportunity to show leadership and actually inject some common sense and get a bit of the heat and rhetoric out of this debate."

O.P.C. by: Emma Rodgers

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Monday, October 19, 2009

Australia will meet legal obligations to asylum-seekers: Gillard




JULIA Gillard has told Parliament Australia will follow the letter of the law on where 78 asylum-seekers intercepted in Indonesian waters will be sent.

Asked in question time why the asylum-seekers remain in limbo after being picked up by the Australian Navy in Indonesian waters, the acting Prime Minister said consultations were continuing.

Ms Gillard, who earlier pledged the government would get the balance right beween a hardline border control policy and showing compassion to refugees, confirmed one female passenger was suffering from fever and was being monitored.

“We will act in a way entirely consistent with out legal obligations,” she said.

“We will follow the letter of the law.”

Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull questioned her claims that a rise in asylum-seekers was sparked by push factors not a softening of policy.

“Why is the government trying to trick the Australian people with spin,” he asked.

Mr Turnbull said the government had rolled out the red carpet to people-smugglers.

The government is also under pressure today to explain whether a warning the government's policies would lead to a rise in people-smuggling was “excised” from a report prepared by Australian Federal Police.

The AFP refused to be drawn on the issue yesterday in Senate estimates on the grounds it was classified.

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor also refused to comment, but accused the opposition of verballing the AFP on the issue today in question time.

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The Australian

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Australia 'must do something' to stop flow of asylum seekers



Sunday 18th October 2009


Prime Minister Kevin Rudd needs to stem the flow of asylum seekers instead of relying on Indonesia to do the heavy lifting, the federal opposition says.

"The flow (of asylum seekers) is back on full strength and it is a deadly business," opposition immigration spokeswoman Sharman Stone told ABC Television today.

"And that is why we are saying: 'Look, Prime Minister Rudd, look you do something right now other than just calling in Indonesia to do your heavy lifting'."

Dr Stone said the number of asylum seekers had increased from about three boats in 2002/03 to 41 boats since the Labor government "softened" its policy last year.

If the opposition had been in power, the problem wouldn't exist, she said.

"We wouldn't have the problem in the first position, because we had zero boat problems, effectively, when we were in government," she said.

"If Prime Minister Rudd refused to deal with the problem he has created, and we got to our change of government with us in power, you would stand by and see us with a strategic package bringing all of this to a crunch very, very quickly."

The debate was heightened yesterday after two boats, possibly loaded with asylum seekers believed to be heading to Australia, issued distress signals in Malaysian and Indonesian waters.

The Australian navy is on standby to help in the rescue operation led by search and rescue authorities from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong today said that HMAS Armidale had made contact with one of the boats and everyone on board was believed to be safe.

She defended the government's "tough but humane and fair" approach, saying the situation was a difficult one.

"We have allocated substantial resources in the last budget to border protection," she told Network Ten.

"Obviously, the situation around the world has meant many push factors are increasing the number of people seeking to go elsewhere and this is the situation the government is seeking to manage."

The situation unfolds as a group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers in Indonesia ended a hunger strike.

Their boat, carrying more than 250 ethnic Tamils, was intercepted last weekend by the Indonesian navy en route to Australia and taken to the Javanese city of Merak.

The passengers had refused to leave the boat during the past week, while making emotional pleas for Australia to take them in.


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Brisbane Times 2009


Saturday, September 12, 2009

Boat with 83 asylum seekers intercepted


A boat carrying suspected asylum seekers has been intercepted off Australia's north-west coast.

Authorities responded to a distress call and intercepted the boat at midnight Friday, about 150 kilometres south of Ashmore Island.

It is believed 83 passengers and four crew were on board.

The Federal Government says the suspected asylum seekers are being transferred to Christmas Island to undergo security and health checks.

The surveillance aircraft which spotted the boat believed it was in distress, but Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O'Connor said the people were found to be safe.

"The people on board the vessel are safe and have indicated that they wish to come to Australia," he said in a statement.

It is the second boat to be intercepted this week after a vessel carrying seven passengers was found in the same area on Monday.

A further 56 Afghanis trying to travel to Australia in a wooden boat were detained in Indonesia, a navy official said on Friday.

The Federal Opposition has now renewed calls for an inquiry into Australia's border protection laws.

Opposition spokeswoman for immigration Sharman Stone said the Federal Government has "clearly lost the battle to people smugglers".

The latest is the 30th boat that has been intercepted since the Government "went soft" on border protection last August, she said.

"For the sake of those risking their lives and to better protect Australia's orderly immigration program we must have a detailed analysis of what has gone wrong with Labor's strategy," she said in a statement.

"Again, I call for an urgent inquiry into the relationship between the Rudd Government's softened stance on border protection and the surge in people smuggling in Australia."

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