KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – East Staffordshire Borough Council, a local government authority in the United Kingdom, has officially recognized the genocide of Hazaras in Afghanistan between 1991 and 1993 by then-Afghan ruler Amir Abdur Rahman Khan, as well as their ongoing persecution under Taliban rule.
In a historic decision on Monday, the council approved several motions, including a call for international recognition of the Hazara genocide, as reported by the Hazara Committee UK.
The council also urged the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office to acknowledge both historical and current genocides against Hazaras and to take further diplomatic, legal, and humanitarian actions to support members of the Hazara community.
The council pledged to support educational initiatives within East Staffordshire that focus on the history and struggles of the Hazara community, ensuring their story is heard and their challenges recognized.
The Hazaras, an ethnic group primarily Shia Muslim, have faced a long history of violent persecution, discrimination, and marginalization in Afghanistan. As a minority in a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, they have been subjected to various forms of violence, including systematic targeted attacks and massacres, which they argue constitute genocide.
The situation for Hazaras has worsened significantly since the Taliban’s return to power, marked by an increase in violence and exclusion from basic services, education, and employment. Many attacks against Hazaras remain unprosecuted, exacerbating their vulnerability.
The majority of attacks on Hazaras in recent years have been claimed by ISKP, the regional affiliate of ISIS, which considers the Hazara-Shia community “heretic.” Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported last year that since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, ISKP has carried out at least 17 attacks on Hazaras, resulting in over 700 deaths and injuries.
A report by Etilaatroz recorded at least 61 targeted attacks on Shia Hazaras during 39 months of Taliban rule, leaving at least 473 dead and 681 injured—an average of one death every three days and one injury every two days.
Hazara activists have long called on the UN and the international community to formally acknowledge the violence against Hazaras as genocide and to take meaningful steps to prevent further atrocities.
In a similar move, the Dandenong City Council in Melbourne, Australia, became the first governmental body to officially recognize the Hazara genocide in November 2022.
Representatives of Dandenong City said in a motion that, “The Hazaras have long been subjugated and subjected to discrimination, forced displacement and genocide primarily because of their ethnic and religious identity.”
