Afghans, according to available data, migrated to Australia for the first time 185 years ago. Afghan Cameleers (Okhba Afghans) – a term used for Afghans who migrated to Australia with camels set the trend for Afghan migration in Australia.
Over 50,000 Afghans currently live in Australia, mainly settled in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. Afghan Cameleer contributed to the development of infrastructure in Australia including the transfer of goods, and natural resources to the far-flung areas of Australia, and the construction of railways trails and roads.
Native Aboriginal Australians lived for over 65,000 years before Europeans moved into Australia in ships in 1788. Europeans began settling in Australia and occupied the land from the native Aboriginals.
Initially traveling to the remote areas of Australia was difficult and Europeans wanted to connect the remote areas with the cities and find an easy and economical way for the transfer of goods and services.
For this reason, the leaders of some Australian colonies decided to bring camels to the continent, as the camels could bear the heat and hardship of Australia’s dry and wide deserts during high temperatures without water and food.
Afghans migration to Australia
The website of South Australia Library reads that Afghans migration history in Australia is older than 185 years and for the first time 18 Afghans arrived in South Australia with their camels in 1838. The purpose of bringing Afghans with camels was to construct the transport system in Australia and connect remote areas to the cities.
After the arrival of Afghan Cameleer, more Afghans continued to move to Australia for decades.
Some other documents show after the arrival of three known Afghans including Dost Mohammad Khan, Hassan Khan and Jumma Baloch Khan to Australia in 1860, a flow of Afghans moving to Australia began.
Some historians believe that between 1860 and 1920, around 3,000 Afghan Cameleers moved to Australia, a wave of cameleers from Egypt and Turkiye also went to Australia.
Afghan Embassy in Canberra wrote on its website that most Afghan Cameleers went to Australia from Kandahar, Helmand, Nimroz, Kunar and Nangarhar provinces to work in Australia.
Afghans lived in British Colonized India also moved to Australia during those years, who were also considered as Afghan due to their original identity.
Historian wrote that Afghan Cameleers migration to Australia continued till 1920 after which they stopped migration to Australia.
Afghan Cameleers were not allowed to bring their families to Australia therefore after 1920 most Afghan Cameleers returned to their places of origin while some remained in Australia and got married with native Australians.
The generation of Afghan Cameleers still live in the southern and central areas of Australia but they could not speak Pashto.
Afghans diaspora in Australia after 1970s
In 1979 only 149 Afghans lived in Australia but due to the Soviet Union invasion and civil war in Afghanistan, thousands of Afghans migrated to Australia.
The new migration program of Afghans to Australia which started in 2013 attracted huge number of applicants while the 2021 collapse of republican saw a large number of Afghans moved to Australia. Majority of those moved to Australia in 2021 were those Afghans who supported Australian Defence and civilian missions in Afghanistan.
The Australian government special visa program for Afghans who supported Australian missions in Afghanistan ended in November 2023.
The Australian statistics authority said that currently, around 50,000 Afghans live in Australia the majority of those speak Pashto and some Dari languages. The 2016 census showed that most Afghans lived in the State of Victoria and New South Wells.
Afghans who earlier arrived in Australia had played a vital role in the reconstruction of remote areas, transfer of goods, and construction of railway trucks and stations.
Discovery of Australia’s remote areas
Declassified documents showed that between 1870 and 1890 Afghan Cameleers worked with groups who wanted to discover the remote areas of Australia.
For instance, in 1872 three Afghans named Kamran, Jumma Khan and Alana were part of the government project spearheaded by Walliam Gaas who were finally able to discover 132,000 square kilometre area in central Australia.
First Mosque in Australia
Afghans, in addition to contributing in the development of Australia, ensured to preserve their culture and religion. They build the first ever mosque in Australia in Broken Hill.
After the arrival of Afghan Cameleers in 1861, they built first mosque in Australia in Marai area. The ABC report showed that it was the first mosque in the history of Australia which was built by Afghans. In 1888 Afghans built the second mosque in the Adelaide City of Australia.
Amanullah, known as Robert locally, said Afghan Cameleers started the construction of a mosque in the Brooken Hell in 1861. Naseer Malikzai, Dr. Zamarai Samim and Asmatullah Halimi, based in Melbourne, visited the mosque and met with Amanullah . They provided a report to Wesal TV about the life and history of Afghan Cameleers.
According to media reports as of today, Muslims have over 360 worship places in Australia and this number is growing each day.
Dr. Baseer, who moved to Australia 10 years ago and lives in Melbourne visited this mosque seven years ago, told Wesal TV, the mosques is named after Sher Khan Mosque, but it needed a renovation. He said he visited Afghans living in this area and found some signs which showed that these Afghans still carry pride in practicing their culture and love their history.
He, however, said the achievement of the Afghan Cameleers through generations have been neglected and diverted from its identity. The name of Afghan has been converted to Ghan which is not a fair treatment of the Afghan identity and culture.
Naseer Malikzai, another Afghan, living in Melbourne, recently visited Broken Hill, said the area was not what they had thought, it is not as developed as other cities in Australia. The small mosque and a small community where we were able to find only one Afghan Cameleer family to meet and talk to. Life would have been even tougher some 150 years ago in this deserted area.
In this area, there were many ancient monuments of the time when the Afghans came there, but they say, even with this, it was not assumed that the Afghans stayed here; because generations of Afghans from this region have migrated to other cities of the country to have a better life
Renowned Ghan (Afghan) Railway
The Afghans who went to Australia with their camels more than 185 years ago and discovered many parts of this great continent, helped restore the basic structures and changed the shape of Australia forever.
Currently, the most famous train running between Adelaide and Darwin is called Ghan (Afghan). This train goes from south to north of Australia.
Discrimination against Afghan Cameleer
Although the Afghans in Australia have made a very important contribution and helped in traveling long distances, at the same time, they were mistreated due to ethnic discrimination, and the reason for this discriminatory behavior was their appearance and rivalry with traditional transport workers.
The Afghan Cameleer mentioned that they faced discriminatory behavior and some had claimed that similar behavior still happens.
Naseer told Wesal TV the discriminatory behavior with Afghan Cameleer does not exist anymore, adding that Afghans who recently arrived in Australia received greater attention and warm welcome.
Afghan Cameleers are not appreciated to the extent they deserve. Their services and work for the development of Australia is much greater. Australian writers and experts have admired Afghan Cameleer in their articles and movies.
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