Hazarra-killings-670
Shias take part in a protest against Saturday's bomb attack in Quetta February 19, 2013. — Photo by Reuters

ISLAMABAD: The Australian government has offered asylum to over 2,500 Hazara families of Balochistan and urged the United Nations refugee agency in Pakistan to facilitate migration of the community facing sectarian violence, Australian embassy sources said.

Jim O’Callaghan, assistant secretary of the humanitarian branch of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Australia, had held a meeting with UNHCR officials last week and discussed the asylum offer with them, First Secretary Australian High Commission Sherief Andrawos told Dawn on Wednesday.

The UNHCR was informed that Australia was willing to accommodate 2,500 families or 7,000 individuals of the Hazara community, keeping in view attacks on them.

“Yes we have started work on facilitating members of Shia minority and other people prone to sectarian violence for giving them refuge in Australia. The Australian government wants our assistance in this regard,” Maya Ameratunga, deputy representative of United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Pakistan, confirmed to Dawn.

On Saturday, over 100 members of the Shia Hazara community were killed in a bomb attack in Quetta. The dead included 33 registered Afghan refugees, triggering condemnation from the UNHCR that asked authorities to protect the lives of refugees in this hour of sadness.

Official sources told Dawn that the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (Safron) had been informed about Australia’s offer.

The resettlement process would be taken up after the return of UNHCR’s Country Representative Neil Wright to Pakistan from Geneva.

“The resettlement process is a complicated issue as we have to identify the most vulnerable and affected families of Hazara Shia community in Balochistan,” Ms Ameratunga said, adding that they would soon give a list of 2,500 families to the Australian government.

Opinion

Editorial

Environment deficit
Updated 05 Jun, 2026

Environment deficit

Pakistan knows all too well the consequences of environmental neglect.
Rights concerns
05 Jun, 2026

Rights concerns

TWO recent news reports have highlighted foreign concerns about the state of human and labour rights in the country....
Patient care crisis
05 Jun, 2026

Patient care crisis

HEALTHCARE in Pakistan is a footnote. Claims by successive governments to introduce vast reforms with huge schemes...
Budget delay
Updated 04 Jun, 2026

Budget delay

With economic stabilisation yet to translate into tangible improvement in living standards, the country’s leaders are finding it increasingly difficult to ignore demands for relief.
Absentee lawmakers
04 Jun, 2026

Absentee lawmakers

TWENTY per cent. That is the percentage of lawmakers whose commitment to their vocation is reflected in the time ...
Deliberate provocations
Updated 04 Jun, 2026

Deliberate provocations

THE latest events at Al-Aqsa Mosque reflect the growing impunity with which extremist Israeli settlers operate. ...