Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, congratulations on your well-deserved reappointment as Speaker of this House. Last Saturday, on 19 July, I attended a community meeting at the Australian Unitarian Druze Community Centre in Hope Valley. The meeting had been urgently convened to raise awareness and seek help for Druze people living in their homelands in the Syrian-Israeli border region who were reportedly being killed, beaten, raped and looted by Syrian militia groups allegedly linked to ISIS. I believe similar Druze community gatherings took place in other cities in the eastern states. Druze people are of Arabic heritage but do not identify as Muslims. Although they can be found in substantial numbers in several countries, the largest populations are in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. In Australia, they are a minority group, but their presence here dates back decades.

Many of the people who attended the forum were visibly distressed at reports and video footage showing family members and friends—including women, children and the elderly—being horrifically attacked. They were additionally distressed at global media reports portraying the attacks on Druze people as being longstanding tribal clashes in the region between the Druze people and Sunni Muslim clans, when, in reality, the Druze people were being attacked as defenceless people, unarmed and in their own homes. Druze people who fled their homes are reportedly trapped within the region because exit points have been blocked. These reports are consistent with reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Understandably, armed members of the Druze community in the Sweida region engaged in military clashes in defence of their people and in retaliation, but they claimed they were not the aggressors but were responding to what they refer to as an act of ethnic cleansing or genocide carried out by Syrian militia with the tacit complicity of the Syrian government. It was only because of the Israeli intervention that a temporary pause in the hostilities occurred, but even that has left the Druze people in fear, feeling under siege and completely vulnerable. In summary, the Australian Druze community is seeking a stronger UN intervention, an investigation by an independent body into the attacks on the Druze people in Sweida, protection by the Syrian government and the recognition of Druze people as having centuries-old ties to their homelands and their right to exist.

I'm not on the ground in Sweida, and I know there are conflicting reports about events in the region. However, I heard from members of Adelaide's Druze community who are in direct contact with family and friends in their homelands, and right now they are desperately pleading for help from the Australian government on behalf of the Druze people in Syria. They will be grateful for any assistance the Australian government can provide them. They've provided a statement which they've asked that I pass on to the government, and I will read it out in full:

On Sunday the 13th of July 2025, under the false pretense of peace and security, the Syrian Interim Authorities entered the province of As Suwayda and started the indiscriminate systematic execution of men, women, children and elderly of the Druze population.

These forces arrived with tanks and immediately started killing, raping, burning and bombing the city of As Suwayda.

The atrocities being carried out include:

These violent acts are not just violations of basic human rights, but an assault on the cultural heritage of a unique and ancient people and international war crimes.

We call on the Australian Government with a heavy heart, urgent action is needed immediately. We demand medical supplies, food and water and financial aid to help with the displacement, safety and security of the people of As Suwayda.

Condemnation is not enough. We need to act now.

I have written to both the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs about this matter, and I draw the House's attention to the statement from Australia's Druze community.

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