ܣܘܪ̈ܝܐ ܕܐܘܣܛܪܠܝܐ | |
|---|---|
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 Assyrians standing next tothe genocide monument inWestern Sydney. | |
| Total population | |
| 61,000 ~ 70,000 (by ancestry, 2022)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Sydney Melbourne | |
| Languages | |
| Neo-Aramaic,English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (majority:Syriac Christianity; minority:Protestantism) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Assyrian Americans,British Assyrians,Assyrian Canadians |
| Part of a series on |
| Assyrians |
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| Assyrian culture |
| By country |
| Assyrian diaspora |
| Language |
| Subgroups |
| Religion |
| By location |
| Persecution |
Assyrians in Australia (Syriac:ܣܘܪ̈ܝܐ ܕܐܘܼܣܛܪܵܠܝܼܵܐ),or Australian Assyrians, refer to ethnicAssyrians or people of Assyrian descent possessing Australian nationality. According to the most recentcensus, 40,218 persons are Assyrian, while 21,166 identified themselves as havingChaldean ancestry.[2] The majority of Assyrian Australians have immigrated fromIraq, Iran,Syria,Jordan and theCaucasus. The first Assyrians arrived in Australia in the 1950s, to flee from the1958 revolution in Iraq.
Of the 61,400 Assyrians in Australia, 40,218 are members of theAssyrian Church of the East orAncient Church of the East and 21,172 are members of theChaldean Catholic Church. TheCity of Fairfield, in Sydney, has the most Assyrians in Australia, with 75% of Assyrians living in that area. 95% ofFairfield's Iraqi-born population are of Assyrian ancestry. Fairfield LGA has one of the most predominant Assyrian communitiesin the diaspora, where one in every ten person is Assyrian. In contrast to other migrants, Assyrians have the highest rate of acquiring theAustralian citizenship.[3]
In the 1980s, theIraq-Iran war resulted in significant numbers of Assyrians fleeing Iraq and applying forrefugee status. In the early 2000s, 5% of Australia'shumanitarian immigrants identified as being adherents ofSyriac churches. In May 2013, theAssyrian genocide was recognised by theNew South Wales state parliament.[4][5] Assyrian-Australians have established various clubs,social organisation, churches andlanguage schools. Assyrians represent only 0.13% ofthe Australian population.[6]
The first Assyrian, named Brian Youkhana, arrived in Sydney in 1951, fromLebanon, where he was joined by his siblings four years later. In the late 1950s, another family settled inPerth.[7] By 1965, there were around five Assyrian families and a few individuals living in the eastern Sydney suburbs ofRandwick,Paddington andClovelly. Although around 80% of the arrivals lived in the suburbs of FairfieldLGA inGreater Western Sydney, some Assyrians settled in theeastern suburbs, a region on Sydney's coast. During that period 4,500 Assyrians came from Iraq, 2,500 from Iran and 1,000 from Syria andLebanon. According to Dinkha Warda, Fairfield was the most popular settlement among Assyrians for reason as follows:[8][7]
Back in 1966, a small meeting was held between the early settlers to decide the future of Assyrians in this country...In 1966, Fairfield's developed area went west up to theCumberland Highway. The majority of those attending the meeting agreed to establish the Assyrian community in Fairfield. The reason was to centralise the development of all the Assyrian social, religious and sporting activities, allowing greater access and participation. If we remained in theSydney city area, we would have scattered. And so, four or five families purchased fibro houses in Fairfield (including myself), and a few bought blocks of land.
In 1969, after the settlement of Assyrians in the Fairfield area, theAssyrian Australian Association (AAA) was established. The significance of theAAA is based primarily on the fact that it was the first registered Assyrian organisation in Australia. Prior toAAA, there had existed an unofficial club called theAssyrian Australian Club which was established in 1966 and initially based for the Assyrians residing in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney prior to the move to the Fairfield area. TheAssyrian Australian Club was replaced with the Assyrian Sports and Cultural Club in 1972, the second official Assyrian secular organisation to be registered in NSW after theAAA. After a brief period of inactivity, theAssyrian Sports and Cultural Club was relocated to the Fairfield area after many Assyrians moved during the housing boom in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, where it has remained active since. In the 1970s, a few soccer clubs were established as the Assyrian community began to have a prominence. An Assyrianlanguage school was formed in 1974, thanks to the AAA.[9]
In 1980, theNineveh Club, a prominent Assyrian club in Edensor Park, Sydney, was established. Built with artificialmud brick, the club wasdesigned after Assyrian royal palace inNineveh. The entryway features twowinged bull statues containing the body of a lion, the head of anAssyrian king and wings of an eagle. In the late 1980s, theChurch of the East was controversially split – The Church of the East in Australia from that time on now has two denominations; The 'old' (Ancient Church of the East) and the 'new' (Assyrian Church of the East).
As the Assyrian community grew in the late 1980s, theAssyrian Sports and Cultural Club leased its premises from 1990 onwards, in Fairfield Heights, Sydney and acquired liquor andgaming licenses. The club later purchased its current building in 1997, and it was officially opened in 2000. Currently, it is the only Assyrian club in operation after the closure of theNineveh Club in 2008. The club co-hosted sports events such asThe Assyrian Cup soccer tournaments and held functions and activities for the community. It has supported migrants, who arrived in the 1990s, settle in the country and it encouraged education by aiding achievers in thehigh school certificate. During the late 1990s, there was an increased level of Assyrianmigration to Australia under thefamily reunion,refugee and humanitarian programs. Reportedly, around 903 Assyrian arrivals were allowed under theAustralian Government's Special Humanitarian Program and theFamily Reunion Program.[10]
In 1997, it was reported that, for the Assyrian youth, lack of English skills was the major impediment for gaining employment, school achievement and becoming socially manoeuvrable in the Australian society. For instance, someFairfield High School Assyrians wanted to go to university but felt hopeless because of their poor English. As such, several Assyrian churches developed a number ofyouth programs. For Assyrians with a higher education, the problem was also language and unacceptability of overseas qualifications, which prevented them from pursuing their careers.[11]
The opening ofSt Hurmizd Assyrian Primary School in 2002, in Sydney, was the first school from theACOE that was established in the international diaspora. In 2006, also in Sydney,St. Narsai Assyrian Christian College was established. It was the firstACOE high school to be built in the western world.
In August 2010, a memorial monument for theAssyrian genocide was erected inBonnyrigg. The statue, 4.5 meters tall, is of a hand of amartyr draped in anAssyrian flag. The memorial is placed in a reserve, to be named theGarden of Nineveh. The statue and the name for the reserve were proposed in August 2009. After consultation with the community, Fairfield Council received more than 100 submissions, including some from overseas, and twopetitions. The proposal was condemned bythe Turkish community. Turkey's consul general to Sydney expressed resentment about the monument, while acknowledging that tragedies had occurred to Assyrians in the period, as well as toTurks.[12]
In August 2014, more than 6,000 Assyrians marched inBelmore Park inSydney CBD to protest against the treatment of their Assyrian counterparts in Iraq and Syria byISIL. Many wore T-shirts reading thehashtag#WeAreN, and chanted "we want peace, we want justice" and "save our Christians". They also waved posters, which read "stop genocide against our Christians" and "stop crimes against humanity". They marched inElizabeth Street, through the city toMartin Place. Assyrian Community leaders made passionate speeches requesting that the Australian and other international governments help those being persecuted in the Middle East.[13]
In 2015, theAbbott government announced that 12,000 extra humanitarian visas would be given topersecuted groups in thewar-torn Middle Eastern countries. The Department of Social Services confirmed that 11,400 Iraqi and Syrian refugees, many of whom being Assyrian, were admitted to Australia as part of its one-off humanitarian intake, where they would primarily settle in Fairfield and Liverpool. The Assyrians toldSBS World News they were in a state of despair, as they hoped more of their kin from the Middle East were brought to Australia. Carmen Lazar, manager of the Assyrian Resource Centre, said, "If they can just lend another hand, you know, give us another 12,000 intake, just to release that pressure from what's happening overseas".[14]
On 15 April 2024, Assyrians were atarget in a terrorist attack at aWakeley church, where anIslamic extremist stabbed bishopMar Mari Emmanuel and five others. All survived.[15]
In Sydney, Assyrians are theleading ethnic group in the Fairfield LGA suburbs ofFairfield,Fairfield Heights andGreenfield Park. Ample amount of Assyrians exist in other suburbs in the Fairfield LGA, such as,Bossley Park,Prairiewood,Wakeley,Wetherill Park,Abbotsbury,Smithfield,Fairfield West,Bonnyrigg Heights,Horsley Park andCecil Park.[17] One in every ten people living in Fairfield City is of Assyrian heritage. Fairfield Public School and Fairfield High School have high a proportion of Assyrian students, and as well asBossley Park High School.[7]
InCity of Liverpool, a LGA that borders Fairfield City, they're found inCecil Hills,Green Valley,Hoxton Park,Hinchinbrook andMiddleton Grange. In the southern and eastern suburbs, they're mainly found inHillsdale,Matraville, as well asMaroubra.
Sydney'slocal government areas with the most Assyrians, population and percentage-wise:[18]
Greater Fairfield is home to over 20,000 Assyrians.
In Melbourne, Assyrians tend to be found in the northwest region, in the suburbs ofBroadmeadows,Craigieburn,Meadow Heights,Roxburgh Park andFawkner. According to the 2016 census, Melbourne had around 13,000 citizens who claimed Assyrian ancestry.[20]
The population of Assyrians in the suburbs of Melbourne (2016 census):
In Brisbane, small Assyrian[21] communities are slowly growing around theMoreton Bay area such asBracken Ridge andStrathpine including inLogan City such asWoodridge andLoganlea due to the recent Syrian and Iraqi refugees coming into Australia.
According to the 2016 census, they are 311 Assyrians living in Brisbane which has almost doubled from the 2011 census.[22] 407 Iraqis according to the 2016 census in Brisbane identified as Christian.
In the 1996 census, there were 9571 people who spoke Assyrian in the state of NSW, and 2191 in Victoria. 60% of these Assyrians were born in Iraq, 21% in Australia and 13% in Iran. Also in that time, 54% belong to theAssyrian Church of the East, 27% belonged to theChaldean Catholic Church and 7% to theOrthodox church. In the2001 census, 9,520 Fairfield LGA residents stated they were of Assyrian ancestry and 8,879 residents stated they spokeAssyrian at home. The Assyrian-speakers living inNSW were 13,241 at that time. In the 2011 Census, Sydney had 21,678 people of Assyrian descent,[23] and Melbourne had 8,057.[24] Assyrians are the third largest language-group residing in theFairfield area behind the Arabic andVietnamese-speakers, respectively.[25]
According to the 2001 census, 29% of Assyrian migrants in Fairfield were usually made up of large families with five members or more. 13- to 24-year-olds made up 18% of the migrating population and 25–54 years were at 57%. 25% of them did not speak English well. 43% of the Assyrians in the Fairfield LGA owned their home, and they generally worked in manufacturing (39%), trade, accommodation,hospitality andtransport industries (31%).[26]
Whilst the new arrivals are settling in Fairfield CBD and Fairfield Heights, the pre-mid-1990s arrivals have purchased and/or rented houses in the more affluent suburbs of Fairfield City, such as, Bossley Park, Wetherill Park and Greenfield Park, which are around 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) west from Fairfield CBD. Furthermore, some of the recently arrived Assyrian children have hadpsychological trauma for the experiences in their countries of origin, which encroached their settlement in Australia.[27]
Sydney has seven prominent Assyrianchurch buildings; St Mary's Church in Smithfield (established in 1975), St Thomas Church in Bossley Park, St Mary's Assumption Church in Fairfield, St Hurmiz Cathedral in Greenfield Park, St Malkeh Church in Greenacre, and St Zaia Cathedral in Middleton Grange.
In Melbourne, the churches are Our Lady Guardian of Plants Chaldean Catholic Church inCampbellfield, Victoria, St. George's Church of the East inReservoir, Victoria,[28] Holy Spirit Syriac Catholic Church inDallas and St Aphrem Syrian Orthodox Church, which also is inReservoir, Victoria.
Assyrians, depending on the village/town they belong to commemorate their specific patron saints and celebrate it usually with their families at picnics or halls. For example, the Assyrians fromBatnaya commemorate Mar Oraha. The feast of Mar Oraha is partaken in an annual prayer and celebration. Celebrations include traditional Assyrian dancing with singers, food and people wearing traditional Assyrian clothing from Batnaya.
Assyrians from the town ofAlqosh commemorate Saint Hurmizd, a monk that established his monastery in Alqosh.Alqoshnaye celebrate the Feast of Saint Hurmizd, known as 'Shara'd Rabban Hurmizd' around the world. This event is celebrated through picnics or halls, like many other Shereh (Feasts). People from Alqosh, like many other Assyrian towns/villages wear their traditional clothing at these events which commemorate their patron saints and celebrate the history of their towns.
Some ACOE adherents in Sydney annually commemorateSaint Zaia (Shara 'D Mar Zaia) atBlaxland Crossing Reserve in the suburb ofWallacia on September. Hundreds attend the occasion, includingAssyrian singers who perform for the event. Visitors would generallypicnic,barbecue or relax in theAustralian bush, and they would usually participate inAssyrian folk dance. This is the second largest Assyrian social gathering in Sydney after the New Year celebration in Fairfield Showground.[29]
Fairfield's large Assyrian community has had the media describe the suburb as 'Little Iraq' or 'Little Assyria'. Assyrian businesses have opened in Fairfield, mostly in Ware Street and Smart Street, and in Fairfield Heights in The Boulevarde. These businesses include everything from jewellery shops to restaurants andconvenient stores, making the area favourite entertainment and shopping hot spot for the Assyrian community.[30]
BothNineveh Club andAssyrian Sports and Cultural Club support and showcase local Assyrian talents, such as singers, actors, musicians, painters and sculptors. The clubs containreception halls and they usually host singer concerts (includinglounge singers), festive parties, weddings,theatrical plays and other forms of social entertainment for the Assyrians in Sydney.[31]Wardeh Deesheh, the first film in theAssyrian language to be shot in Australia, was released in 1991.[32]
The Assyrians in Sydney lavishly celebrate theAssyrian New Year annually on 1 April, inFairfield Showground in Prairiewood. Thousands attend the New Year festival and it usually features music and theatrical performances,traditional dancers, food stalls andfireworks.[33] Former Australian prime ministerTony Abbott[34] and other politicians such asChris Bowen,Craig Kelly,Tanya Plibersek,Chris Hayes and formerNSW premierBob Carr have attended the festival and made a speech.[35]
In 1989, there was a major church split in theChurch of the East in Fairfield, which shook and divided the community. The notorious event resulted inlegal proceedings overproperty rights and it even received nationalmedia coverage. After theSupreme Court of New South Wales ruled in favour of bishopMar Meelis Zaia, theAssyrian Church of the East diocese of Australia andNew Zealand, to take ownership of St Mary's Church, Assyrians of theAncient Church of the East sect protested since they found the court's ruling highly objectionable and unjust, as their sect claimed the St Mary's Church beforehand. A few of them eventually got involved in a franticbrawl outside the courthouse with those part of the Assyrian Church of the East sect.
Richard Carleton from60 minutes covered the story in a studio that contained around 200 Assyrians who opposed the bishop. Carleton belligerently faced the few men who were involved in the brawl and asked if they wereapologetic about their actions, which the men stated they were merely acting in "self-defense" and "fighting fortheir rights" (as the court neglected their perspective). The Bishop described the actions of his raucous opponents as "primitive". Author and journalist David Leser criticised the 60 Minutes portrayal of Assyrians in his bookThe Whites of Their Eyes, saying, "12 minutes ofprime-time baiting of a community that had been law-abiding and peaceful prior to and subsequent to that event.There was no one millisecond devoted to explaining the intricacies of the dispute".[36]
Assyrian Australians, like many other Assyrians from around the world, are mainly fond of soccer, and have established various football clubs in Australia.Fairfield Bulls Soccer Club, based in Sydney, is the most prominent soccer club in the country. It was established in 1971 and it has involved hundreds of children and teenagers in different age teams. Legislated byFootball NSW,Fairfield Bulls became a standalone club in 2005. The Soccer Club was linked withNineveh Sports and Community Club. Another conspicuous Assyrian soccer club in Sydney, established in the early 1970s, is theFairfield Eagles, a club affiliated with theAssyrian Sports and Cultural Club.[37]
In Melbourne, two Assyrian soccer teams exist; Moreland United FC and Upfield FC. ManyAssyrian people cheer for their teams, local and international. The teams include theAssyriska FF, as well as the Iraqi, Syrian and Iranian national teams. Sydney's Assyrian community assembled in Fairfield to celebrate Iraq qualifying for theAsian Football Cup finals in 2007. More than 7000 people, includingIraqi Arabs, joined in street celebrations around Fairfield on Sunday 29 July 2007 after Iraq won the Asian Cup finals.[38]
Most Assyrian-Australian media is aired on theradio. Assyrian radio has a variety of themes and topics which consist mainly ofAssyrian music and interviews with prominent Assyrian individuals, and politics, current events, weather, sport and history. These subjects are usually affiliated with Assyrian people, their culture and homeland. In the late 90s through to 2004,channel 31, acommunity channel, broadcast in Assyrian one to three hours a week.
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