Afghanistan: Information on the Hazaras within the current situation of ethnic and tribal conflict from December 1995
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 January 1996 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | AFG22701.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Afghanistan: Information on the Hazaras within the current situation of ethnic and tribal conflict from December 1995, 1 January 1996, AFG22701.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad3d10.html [accessed 28 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The Hazaras are primarily farmers who speak a Persian dialect, live in the Hazarajat, and are Afghanistan's largest Shi'i community (Barth 1987, 195; MRG Feb. 1992, 11; Documentation-Réfugiés 21-30 Apr. 1992, 12). They are Twelver Shi'is (ibid.) and form approximately nine per cent of Afghanistan's population (ibid.; Asian Survey July 1995, 621). The attached map from Minority Rights Group (MRG) provides the geographic location of the Hazaras. For further information on the Hazaras, please consult Response to Information Request AFG19334.E of 18 January 1995, which is available at Regional Documentation Centres.
Information on the current situation of the Hazara community could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB, other than that provided in the Moscow News (MN) article of 17 November 1995. This MN article reports a claim made by the Taliban student army which maintains that, in addition to having Pashtuns (also known as Pathans and Pushtuns) fighting on their side, they also have many Hazaras, Tajiks and Uzbeks.
The information below pertains to the Hizb-i Wahdat party which is, according to Current History, essentially a regrouping of the Shiite Hazara... and espouses an ideology based on the beliefs of Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini" (Jan. 1995, 38). Response to Information Request AFG19334.E of 18 January 1995, available at Regional Documentation Centres, provides background information on this party.
Karim Khalili (Irna 2 Dec. 1995) and 'Abdolkarim Khalili (ibid. 11 Dec. 1995; Voice of Islamic Republic of Iran 6 Dec. 1995) are reported to be a leader or head of the Hizb-i Wahdat-i Islami (Islamic Unity Party). However, another Irna report refers to Abdulkarim Khalili as the Chairman of the Council of the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan (19 Dec. 1995). 'Abdolkarim Khalili's Hizb-i Wahdat-i Islami controls Bamian Province and Hazarehjat region (Irna 11 Dec. 1995).
A 21 December 1995 Irna article refers to Hojjat Ol-Eslam Mohammad Akbari as head of the Central Council of a faction of Afghanistan's Islamic Unity Party.
Two sources refer to a potential joint attack on Kabul by a three-party alliance consisting of Hekmatyar's Hizb-i Islami, Dostam's Junbush-i Melli and the Hizb-i Wahdat (Khalili group), and the Taliban (Xinhua 18 Dec. 1995; AFP 17 Dec. 1995).
A 7 December 1995 Irna report discribes the first military training centre of the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan (Hizb-i Wahdat-i Islam-i Afghanistan), which was opened in Western Kabul on 6 December 1995.
For general information on the ethnic and tribal situation of Afghanistan, please consult the attachments of Response to Information Request AFG22548.E of 20 December 1995, which is available at Regional Documentation Centres.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Agence France Presse (AFP) [Hong Kong, in English]. 17 December 1995. "Dostam Bolsters Troops on Key Frontline." (FBIS-NES-95-243 19 Dec. 1995, pp. 42-43)
Asian Survey [Berkeley, Calif.]. July 1995. Vol. 35, No. 7. Anwar-ul-Haq Ahady. "The Decline of the Pushtuns in Afghanistan."
Barth, Fredrik. 1987. "Cultural Wells of Resistance in Afghanistan," Afghanistan: The Great Game Revisited. Edited by Rosanne Klass. New York: Freedom House.
Current History [Philadelphia]. January 1995. Gilles Dorronsoro. "Afghanistan's Civil War."
Documentation-Réfugiés [Paris]. 21-30 April 1992. Supplement to No. 181. "Groupes ethniques et minorités [Afghanistan]; Ethnies Persanophones; Hazaras."
Irna [Tehran, in English]. 21 December 1995. "Kabul-Based Shiite Leader Warns Against 'Plots'." (FBIS-NES-95-245 21 Dec. 1995, p. 38)
_____. 19 December 1995. "Iran's Borujerdi Arrives on Peace Mission." (FBIS-NES-95-244 20 Dec. 1995, pp. 57-58)
_____. 11 December 1995. "Khalili Declares Amnesty in Controlled Areas." (FBIS-NES-95-238 12 Dec. 1995, p. 62)
_____. 7 December 1995. "Unity Party Opens First Military Training Center." (FBIS-NES-95-236 8 Dec. 1995, p. 51)
_____ [Tehran, in Persian]. 2 December 1995. "Opposition Groups Fail to Reach Agreement." (FBIS-NES-95-232 4 Dec. 1995, pp. 64-65)
Minority Rights Group (MRG). February 1992. No. 92.2. Nassim Jawad. Afghanistan: A Nation of Minorities. London: MRG.
Moscow News (MN). 17 November 1995. Leonid Gankin. "Afghanistan on the Verge of a New Redivision." (NEXIS)
Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran [Tehran, in Pashto]. 6 December 1995. "Khalili Denies Iran Interfering in Internal Affairs." (FBIS-NES-95-235 7 Dec. 1995, p. 58)
The Xinhua News Agency. 18 December 1995. "Dostum's Militia Unusually Moves in N. Afghanistan." (NEXIS)
Attachments
Agence France Presse (AFP) [Hong Kong, in English]. 17 December 1995. "Dostam Bolsters Troops on Key Frontline." (FBIS-NES-95-243 19 Dec. 1995, pp. 42-43)
Irna [Tehran, in English]. 11 December 1995. "Khalili Declares Amnesty in Controlled Areas." (FBIS-NES-95-238 12 Dec. 1995, p. 62)
_____. 7 December 1995. "Unity Party Opens First Military Training Center." (FBIS-NES-95-236 8 Dec. 1995, p. 51)
Minority Rights Group (MRG). February 1992. No. 92.2. Nassim Jawad. Afghanistan: A Nation of Minorities. London: MRG, p. 10.
The Xinhua News Agency. 18 Decmeber 1995. "Dostum's Militia Unusually Moves in N. Afghanistan." (NEXIS)
Additional Sources Consulted
Asiaweek [Hong Kong]. Weekly. December 1995 to present.
Central Asian Survey. March 1995. Vol. 14, No. 1. Anders Fänge. "Afghanistan After April 1992: A Struggle for State and Ethnicity."
DIRB "Afghanistan" country file. December 1995 to present.
DIRB "Afghanistan: Amnesty International" country file. December 1995 to present.
DIRB Indexed Media Review [Ottawa]. Weekly. December 1995 to present.
Economist [London]. Weekly. December 1995 to present.
Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) [Hong Kong]. Weekly. December 1995 to present.
On-line search of media sources.
