Melbourne. In Melbourne the majority of Afghans live in Greater Dandenong and Casey. The recent arrival of Afghan asylum seekers by boat has changed the demography of the Afghan Australian community in a significant way.
Currently, Australia's humanitarian resettlement program for Afghans is concentrated in the neighbouring countries of Pakistan and Iran. Australia also considers UNHCR-referred Afghan applicants in: Turkey. India.
At the end of June 2021, 67,030 Afghan-born people were living in Australia, more than twice times the number (32,970) at 30 June 2011.
The latest Census in 2016 recorded 46,799 Afghanistan-born people in Australia, an increase of 63.6 per cent from the 2011 Census.
Nearly 1.3 million registered citizens of Afghanistan are temporarily residing in Pakistan. Of these, 58.1% reside and work in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 22.8% in Balochistan, 11.7% in Punjab, 4.6% in Sindh, 2.4% in the capital Islamabad and 0.3% in Azad Kashmir. They are also under the care and protection of the UNHCR.
The largest city in Afghanistan is Kabul, with a population of 3,043,532 people.
The states of California, Virginia and New York historically had the largest number of Afghan Americans. Thousands may also be found in the states of Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Colorado, Washington, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Idaho, Missouri, North Carolina, and Illinois. As of 2022, their total number is approximately 155,000.
These individuals are commonly: People of Hazara ethnic background fleeing ethnic persecution. Intellectuals, journalists or activists. Individuals who assisted the Australian mission in Afghanistan and were at risk of harm (e.g. interpreters)
The 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan triggered a wave of refugees who sought safety in many countries including Australia. Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, but the ongoing civil war and subsequent ascendancy of the Taliban resulted in more Afghan refugees arriving in Australia.
Since the fall of Kabul, more than 6,000 Afghans have been evacuated to Australia from Afghanistan. More than 170,000 have applied to come to Australia under the humanitarian visa program since August 2021.
In 2020–21, Australia granted a total of 5,947 refugee and humanitarian visas. The majority of these people came from: Iraq.
Total Victoria
At the 2016 Census, there were 18,116 Afghanistan-born persons in Victoria (38.7% of Australia's total), ranked 19th among the overseas- born communities in Victoria.
The refugees are now spread across five domestic bases with the highest number -- 9,700 Afghans -- being hosted by Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. Thousands more are at facilities in Wisconsin, Virginia, Indiana and New Mexico.
It is estimated that 85 percent of Afghan refugees are living in Pakistan and Iran, which continue to host more than 1.3 million and 750,000 registered Afghan refugees respectively. In 2021, events leading up to the Taliban's takeover of Kabul in August exacerbated displacement throughout the country.
Since 2015, refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru have been detained in the wider island community.
Beginnings. The various colonies of Australia being under the dominion of the British Empire, the early settlers used people from British territories, particularly Asia, as navigators. In 1838, Joseph Bruce and John Gleeson brought out 18 of the first "Afghans", who arrived in the colony of South Australia in 1838.
Under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (the Migration Act), asylum seekers who arrive in Australia, whether on the mainland or an 'excised offshore place', without a valid visa must be held in immigration detention until they are granted a visa or removed from Australia.
Mental health issues are also reported as prevalent in the Brisbane community as a result of the experiences of war and displacement. Culture shock and language barriers are common difficulties reported by Afghan people when they arrive in Australia. Afghan people often rely on their social support network.
They continue to face brutality, violence, ill-treatment and pushbacks. They face discrimination and struggle to access basic services, education, work, identity and travel documents. In the worst cases, they face arbitrary detentions, penalties and forced deportation.
The Pashtuns make up the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.
Pashtun: The largest single ethnicity of Afghanistan, the Pashtun, and in particular the largest tribe of the Pashtuns, the Ghilzai, formed the backbone of the Taliban movement.
Afghanistan's political life has always been dominated by ethnic Pashtuns, who are thought to make up more than a third of the population.
In Melbourne the majority of Afghans live in Greater Dandenong and Casey. The recent arrival of Afghan asylum seekers by boat has changed the demography of the Afghan Australian community in a significant way.