The first Afghans in Australia

Up to half a million wild camels roam the outback

The Afghan asylum seekers at Australia's Woomera detention centre are probably unaware that the twice-weekly train service to Alice Springs that passes nearby is called The Ghan.

The train's name, and its emblem of an Afghan on a camel, recognises the contribution that Afghan camel drivers made to the building of the railway.

During the second half of the 19th Century, they played a significant part in the opening up of the interior for exploration and settlement.

When William Gosse became the first European to climb Uluru (Ayers Rock) in 1873, he was accompanied by an Afghan cameleer called Kamran.

Multinational

The first Afghans arrived in South Australia in 1838. More came in small groups over subsequent decades. There were no more than a few thousand of them in total.

The old railway closed in 1980, when a new line was opened further to the west

The name Afghan came to apply to all cameleers. In fact - like today's migrants - they came from a wide range of countries across the Middle East and India.

They were brought in, as were the camels, to deliver supplies to isolated communities - mines, missions and sheep stations.

In addition to the railways, they worked on the Overland Telegraph Line from Port Augusta to Darwin. Completed in 1872, this 3,200-km-long line was Australia's first cable link to the outside world.

Home on the range

Camels were preferred to horses and other animals because of their suitability for the dry, barren climate of the interior.

They could carry loads of 300kg and more and survive on very little food and water. About 10,000 were imported between 1860 and 1900.

Camel trekking is now a popular tourist activity

With the advent of the motor car, their usefulness declined and they were left to range freely across large areas of South and Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

They are considered vermin and there is a government controlled culling programme. Efforts are also being made to develop live export trade and a market for camel meat.

As for the cameleers, most returned to their home countries. There was little official encouragement for them to stay.

But the descendents of those few who remained are now part of a multicultural society - a society that the detainees in Woomera and elsewhere seek to join.