3.6.13 Christian Assyrians in Iraq

Mr HAWKE (Mitchell) (12:02): I
want to commend the member for Berowra for an excellent motion in relation to
this matter and, indeed, all members of this place, including the member for
Melbourne Ports and the member for Hughes, for excellent contributions in
recognition of this serious issue and problem. I think it is a good idea for us
in this place to call for the Australian government to raise the ongoing concern
of significant human rights abuses of Christian Assyrians with the Iraqi
government of today. Given the record of Australia in assisting Iraq and the
people of Iraq with their needs over the years, it is a good chance for us to
represent our ongoing concern about the serious situation that minority
Christian groups are facing in Iraq today.

I also want to say that it has been my privilege to work with
the Australian Assyrian community and get to meet and get to know many of its
fantastic members and the contribution that they are making. We certainly see in
Australia today people entering parliaments in this country like Ninos Khoshaba
but also a good friend of mine in the New South Wales Liberal Party, Andy Rohan,
the member for Smithfield, who is doing a fantastic job as an Australian with
Assyrian background. I also want to acknowledge the contribution of His
Beatitude Mar Meelis Zaia, the Archbishop of the Assyrian Church of the East,
Australia and New Zealand, who has received the Order of Australia medal in
recognition of this contribution.

It is an ongoing concern that even recently, in May this year,
we have seen minority Christians amongst those suffering. Up to 140 people died
in four consecutive days of violence in Iraq. This ongoing concern is added to
records and reports of up to 1,000 Assyrian Christians having lost their lives
in the time since the fall of Saddam Hussein. That is a very sobering statistic,
indeed. It is sobering to read that if these attacks take place in a Christian
neighbourhood or a Christian village you can assume that they are targeted
especially against the Christian populations of the neighbourhoods and villages.
That is, these attacks are deliberately targeting Christians in Iraq today.

When you read the Human rights
report on Assyrians in Iraq: The exodus from Iraq, put out by the Assyria
Council of Europe, you find some really sobering information about what is going
on and why we need a motion such as this today. The member for Berowra has
highlighted the 600,000 Christian Assyrians who have now fled Iraq in fear of
this ongoing persecution and human rights abuses. We have seen saw the huge
exodus of minorities and continuing threats and violence. While this report
notes a general decrease in violence, that is coming from a level which is
completely unacceptable to any civilised country.

Assyrians and other minorities are constantly experiencing
targeted violence, threats and intimidation. It is disturbing to read that,
because of the continuing displacement processes, many Assyrians are now not
able to sustain themselves, lacking a regular source of income, opportunities
and education, and neither the central Iraqi government nor the Kurdistan
regional government is adequately dealing with these problems.

The purpose of this motion is to highlight the dozens of
attacks and the revealed patterns of structural discrimination against Assyrians
and their organisations during the past few years. We have seen continuing
violence. We have seen people wounded. We have seen people killed. We have seen
people abducted. We have seen the bombing of churches and parishioners being
killed. All of these things, in the world's eyes, are completely unacceptable in
any country, particularly in a new state which has been supported by so many
countries, like Australia.

We learnt from the report that since 2011 a considerable
movement amongst Assyrians has been taking place because of the highly dangerous
situation. Women have been especially targeted and have been forced to take on
the garments of a faith they do not support. Assyrian women, in particular, face
constant threats of physical violence and danger. This is completely
unacceptable to the international community and unacceptable to Australia. It is
unacceptable that the marginalisation of minorities is partly incorporated into
the new constitution of Iraq. I have to say that we do not want to see
institutionalised discrimination in the constitution of any new country that is
supported by a free society like Australia.

It is vital that we pass this motion today and recognise that
the Christian Assyrian community, a minority religious and racial group in Iraq,
are subject to ongoing violence and intimidation, that the contribution that
they are making here in Australia is to be admired and praised and that we need
to do more to raise this issue with the Iraqi government to ensure that all
minorities within Iraq are treated fairly.