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ASSYRIAN UNIVERSAL ALLIANCE
AUSTRALIA CHAPTER
Member, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)
PRESS RELEASE
Campaign Pushing for the Development of a Self-Governed Safe
Haven in the Assyrian Homeland
Sydney - 20 March 2015
On Thursday, 19 March 2015, a delegation headed by Mr. Hermiz Shahen, Deputy Secretary General of the Assyrian
Universal Alliance (AUA), Mr David M. David , President of the Assyrian Australian National Federation, Mrs Suzy
David , AUA senior advisor and Former Deputy Secretary General, held meetings with the Australian government
officials in Canberra. The AUA invited Mr Emmanuel Khoshaba, the Secretary General of the Assyrian Patriotic
Party currently visiting Australia from Iraq to join the delegation. The delegates were welcomed by the Hon. Chris
Bowen MP, Shadow Treasurer, he organised a special consultation with The Honorable Richard Marles MP, Shadow
Minister for Immigration and Border Protection
The delegation expressed the concerns of Australian Assyrians, about the future of the Christian Assyrians, the
original and indigenous people of Iraq & Syria, and their plight in both countries. The delegation requested urgent
attention to the escalating developments in Syria most recently due to the seizure of 35 Assyrian villages by the ISIS,
stretching over 80 kilometres west from Hassaka province to Ras al-Ain, on the Khabour River in the northeast
Syria, on Tuesday, February 23, 2015. Up to 300 Assyrians, mainly women and children were captured. More than
an estimated 3000 Assyrians fled from their villages and are now in sheltered in Hassaka and Qamishli. Many of
these captives’ families have escaped hostage situations and are on the run to nearby Lebanon and Iraq.
The delegation requested that the Australian government assist in facilitating a program to protect those families
stranded in Al-Hassaka
The delegation also met separately with Mr Murray Hansen, Chief of Staff, for the Minister for Foreign Affairs. As a
matter of urgency and importance, the Assyrian delegation called upon the Australian Government to endorse and
support a number of important issues, including establishment a self-governed safe haven for the Assyrian people
and preserve the Nineveh Plain in Iraq for the Indigenous Assyrians and other Christian minority groups in the area.
Mr Shahen thanked all the government officials for the attention given to the Assyrian plea, unrelenting commitment
to the Assyrian cause and their outstanding efforts over the years in raising the Assyrian case with the Australian
government.
Assyrian Universal Alliance
PO Box 34, Fairfield NSW 1860 Australia.
E-mail: [email protected]
From left , David David , Suzy David, the Hon Richard Marles MP, Emmanuel Khoshaba , The Hon Chris
Bowen MP, and Hermiz Shahen .