A refugee is standing up for women's rights to education, after a bombing at an Afghan school killed over 80 Hazara girls and injured over 150 last week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Azizeh Abbasi is a Hazara, a persecuted ethnic group that has long faced genocide and persecution at the hands of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
It is unknown who is responsible for the three school bombings, and this bombing is just the latest in a series of terrorist attacks seemingly designed to intimidate women out of school.
Many of Ms Abbasi's relatives still live in Afghanistan, and she said many of the younger ones are too afraid to go to school due to the prospect of falling victim to a random murder.
"They are having stress. The students are not willing to go to school any more because they think they might never come back home," Ms Abbasi said.
"I think education shouldn't be a crime. Unfortunately in Afghanistan education is a crime, especially for the Hazara community."
Ms Abbasi's family fled to Iran while she was two years old, and there they eked out a living for themselves as second class citizens.
Because they were refugees, they were not allowed to own a house or a motorbike or go to university, and Ms Abbasi had to pay expensive fees to attend high school while Iranian citizens got in for free.
Ms Abbasi helped support the family by doing sewing with her mother while the father did odd jobs around city to make a living.
Their luck turned around when she, her parents, and her three brothers and three sisters were finally granted refugee status into Australia, and in 2017 they migrated to Wagga Wagga in the NSW Riverina.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Ms Abbasi studied English at TAFE before going on to Charles Sturt University, where she is currently a second-year medical radiation science student.
She said her parents were often sick in Iran, and that as a small girl she dreamed of becoming a radiographer so that she could take their x-ray and help them get better.
Now that she lives in Wagga she is able to follow that dream, and she hopes that one day other Hazaras can have the same opportunities.
"I'm really grateful that I'm living in Australia now and studying the course that I wanted," Ms Abbasi said.
"This is my responsibility as a Hazara student in Australia, to raise awareness to the other community, to let them know what's happening in Afghanistan. This is the only thing I can do for my country."
Today she lives in Wagga with her two parents and her six siblings.
Kenji Sato
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
