Church of Scientology Melbourne Honors Refugee Advocate
Mr. Parsu Sharma-Luital is honored for his work on behalf of refugees on World Humanitarian Day
At an International World Humanitarian Day celebration August 14 at the Church of Scientology of Melbourne, parishioners and community leaders gathered to acknowledge Mr. Parsu Sharma-Luital for his work to promote the rights of refugees.
Twice recognized by the Victoria Multicultural Commission with its Award for Excellence for his outstanding contribution to promoting cultural diversity and multiculturalism, Sharma-Luital, an executive member of the Nepali Association of Victoria and president of the Bhutanese Community of Australia, works to assist refugees who have found asylum in Australia.
Sharma-Luital, who recently attended the UN Human Rights Council Convention for Refugees in Geneva as an Australian Council for Refugees representative, spoke of the plight of the more than 100,000 Bhutanese, forced to leave their country and subsist in refugee camps in Nepal where he and his family lived for 19 years.
Those living in Nepal refugee camps and all refugees are denied the right to a nationality—a violation of Article 15 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Sharma-Luital acknowledged the Church of Scientology for its human rights awareness initiative, which can play a major role in improving the lot of refugees.
“It is an excellent program for young people,” he said. “Youth should be educated on human rights. This is how we will make this world a safer and more peaceful place for everyone.”
Scientologists on five continents engage in collaborative efforts with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations to bring about broad-scale awareness and implementation of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the world’s premier human rights document.
The Church of Scientology published Scientology: How We Help—United for Human Rights, Making Human Rights a Global Reality, to meet requests for more information about the human rights education and awareness initiative the Church supports. To learn more, visit Scientology.org/HumanRights.
Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream,” and the Scientology religion is based on the principles of human rights. The Code of a Scientologist calls on all members of the religion to dedicate themselves “to support true humanitarian endeavors in the fields of human rights.”