For single mum, Linh, becoming a foster carer has been one of the most rewarding experiences of her life.
(more…)In the middle of our country’s health and economic crisis, it is tempting to let this news pass unnoticed. Between the bushfires, COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent recession, 2020 has been a year for the history books and wreaked a devastating toll on our communities.
But most of us alive today have also been witness to another part of Australian history – one that I am certain will be viewed alongside the frontier massacres and the Stolen Generation as a dark blight on our shared heritage.
Offshore processing was first introduced under a Labor government in 2013, and it has continued under our present leadership as a deterrent to people seeking asylum in Australia by boat.
According to Human Rights Watch, more than 3,000 people have been interred on the camps on Manus Island and Nauru, and today, around 370 still remain there in limbo. Some 700 were resettled in the United States, while another 1,200 were transferred to Australia for medical treatment. More than 200 of these people are still detained in detention centres and hotels.
Those who have been fortunate enough to move to the community have experienced intense hardship – and this has only worsened with the recent pandemic. A survey SSI conducted in May showed that temporary visa holders like these people seeking asylum are going without food and medicine as a result of COVID-19.
Still, there is a glimmer of positivity in Friday’s news that Behrouz Boochani has been offered a permanent safe haven in New Zealand. As I’ve previously written, Behrouz obtained a temporary visa to visit New Zealand for a literary event last year. Being officially recognised as a refugee means he now has a permanent future away from Manus Island.
“I am very happy to have some certainty about my future, I feel relieved and secure finally,” he told The Guardian.
In Australia, we have also seen our state governments step up with funding and support for temporary visa holders, including people seeking asylum, international students and working-holiday makers.
You don’t have to be a government decision maker to help people seeking asylum during this pandemic. For example, SSI has opened up a referral and support clinic in Parramatta that is open to all people in need – regardless of visa status. This has created support for people seeking asylum who are ineligible for many government-funded programs and welfare. We’ve also begun offering tailored support for entrepreneurs from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds to assist them to navigate this pandemic and implications for small business.
They are small steps in what we hope is a larger shift in the way our country perceives and treats people based on their visa type. This pandemic has shown that we are only as strong as our most vulnerable community member.
Violet Roumeliotis
SSI CEO
He now uses his firsthand experience and academic expertise to help other people from migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds find home in Australia.
After arriving in Australia, Bashar, like many newcomers, struggled to find employment and find his place in the wider community.
“I was really lost, and I went through a stage of depression. I couldn’t work as an engineer and I couldn’t find any simple job. It was a struggle,’ he said.
Bashar explained his breakthrough moment was beginning work in the real estate industry, where he developed a strong connection to Sydney’s refugee and migrant communities.
“When you work in the real estate industry, you meet people. You enter their houses and are more exposed to their struggle. I was very successful in that area, but I realised that I felt the need to help people in different capacity.”
Now, 15 years on, Bashar has shifted professions from Engineering and business into the social and education sectors; having gained a degree in Adult Education, a master’s in Social Sciences and a Diploma of Art Therapy, among various complementary qualifications.
He now works as a Community Liaison Team Leader at Prairiewood High School, Arts and Community Development Consultant at the Fairfield Arts & Community Development Centre and is President of the Australian Mesopotamian Cultural Association Incorporated.
As a leader in the Sydney’s migrant and refugee communities, Bashar uses his skills to help newcomers survive and thrive in this rapidly changing COVID-19 world.
For example, throughout the pandemic, Bashar has continued running the Centre for Arts and Community development, a privately funded community organisation he established in 2014.
One of the programs Bashar currently runs out of the center is the Community Engagement and Empowerment Program (CEEP), which is proudly funded by the Scanlon Foundation and an auspiced by STARTTS. CEEP works with people from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds to help them increase their capability and build their capacity to find a job.
Throughout the pandemic Bashar has also collaborated with Sydney’s creative community to develop Arabic language videos for the public, to support their wellbeing and reduce stress during COVID-19. He plans to continue developing online in language content and expanding his focus into English language learning. You can find Bashar’s videos here.
Bashar and his team of volunteers at the Arts and Community Development Centre have also been working hard to adapt to changes in the employment sector driven by the looming economic crisis.
“We want to know how we can help the community be ready for a new, and little bit tougher stage. This stage requires individuals to develop new skills to remain competitive on the job market and a new mentality.
“On top of this, people, particularly those who have survived trauma, need to be able to maintain their wellbeing. Wellbeing is so important, because if you lose your inner peace, your world and work challenges will attack you, and this can trigger their PTSD from within,” Bashar said.
Driving these projects is Bashar’s passion for supporting people from refugee backgrounds to harness their skills and achieve their full potential.
“People from a refugee backgrounds who have managed to live through war zones and the trauma that comes with it are survivors. They have already taken the step to be engaged with life, so we [the wider community] just have to activate their inner powers and let them believe they can do anything,” said Bashar.
Visit the Arts & Community Development Facebook page here.
Learn more about another of Bashar’s projects, The Peacemakers Ensemble here.
* pseudonym and stock photo used to protect individual’s identity
“I was forced to leave my marriage and had to leave my kids with my mother. Once I arrived in Australia I said, ‘I can’t go back because I am so free’. Sometimes I cry for them, so if I could help them come here to Australia, I would be a happy person.”
While Saira continues to deeply miss her two daughters, aged seven and five, over the past two years the 32-year-old has surrounded herself with her Australian family.
“[Australia is a] very different country to Africa. I have my family back in Africa, but the people I have met [in Australia] are also like my family.”
Arriving in a foreign country with little contacts and no family is an extremely daunting task. In the first year of settlement, Saira found it difficult to find a job due several factors, including her lack of local work experience. She explained that she desperately needed to work to support her daughters and was beginning to lose hope about settling in Australia.
In an effort to pursue work in the disability sector, Saira completed a Certificate IV in Disability shortly after moving to Australia, however she faced barriers to gaining employment in this field.
In March 2019, she contacted SSI, who delivers the NSW Government’s Refugee Employment Support Program (RESP), to seek support in finding employment. In the first three years of the
program, RESP has supported nearly 2,000 individuals from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds like Saira to gain employment.
Saira shared she was eager to build her savings to save for purchase a new vehicle, which she would use as transport when working as a disability support worker.
She was then supported by the RESP to map out a career plan that would provide her with the steps she needs to take to become job ready, find employment and start saving. She met regularly with RESP staff and received guidance on different topics such as Australian work rights and work culture, practicing interview skills, and applying for jobs through online job websites.
As a result of the support Saira has received from the RESP, she went on to complete studies in Process Manufacturing from Gateway Training Academy and found employment with TOLL Group for a pick packing role in November 2019.
Saira explained the support of those around her, and especially Sandra, her case worker, has been key in establishing herself.
“Because of the Coronavirus I lost shifts in my job. So, I had to call Sandra and ask, ‘Sandra I do not know how to pay my way’ and she showed me what to do, told me where to go and who to contact if you are an asylum seeker and need help.
“Now, I know who to call when I need some food and they help me by bringing it to my house. Sandra has always helped me and told me what to do next. She is just like that. She is like a sister to me.
“This is what Australia is to me. I have received a lot of help.”
Saira is extremely grateful to have found employment and is working towards to her dream of working in the disability sector with the support of the RESP team.
“I have a lot of empathy and want to help children. So, my goal here is to work in disability, particularly with children.
Learn more about SSI’s Employment programs here
To mark ‘The Year of Welcome’, SSI and the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, launched new research during a virtual event on June 18. The research challenges narrow economic definitions of successful refugee settlement and, instead, suggests social and civic dimensions are equally valid markers of refugee integration.
Foundations for Belonging: A snapshot of newly arrived refugees, reveals that refugees are building mixed social networks, which helps them to trust Australian institutions and fulfil social responsibilities. It points to a series of actions that governments, policymakers, service providers and civil society can pursue to strengthen their contribution to settlement and integration.
SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said, “It is fitting that, in a Refugee Week with the theme ‘Celebrating the Year of Welcome’, this study shows that refugees have a strong sense of welcome and belonging in their everyday lives.
“They feel part of the Australian community, regularly seek to get to know people from cultural backgrounds other than their own, demonstrate high levels of trust in their neighbours and neighbourhoods, and, despite language barriers, are developing social bridges grounded in the sense of welcome and support offered by the broader Australian community.
“This research will provide a solid foundation for community engagement initiatives that facilitate meeting and exchange between receiving communities and refugees.”
The launch featured a panel discussion moderated by ABC News reporter Lydia Feng, with research co-author and Western Sydney University Senior Research Fellow Shanthi Robertson, SSI Settlement Services Manager Dor Achiek and Refugee Council of Australia Policy Officer Shufuka Tahiri. The discussion was preceded by a presentation of the research findings by the paper’s co-authors Tadgh McMahon, SSI Research and Policy Manager, and Shanthi Robertson, and included Q&A.
Click here to tune into the recording of the virtual event. As the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA)’s event partner, SSI contributed to the ‘Year of Welcome’ campaign to educate the Australian public about refugees and to celebrate the contribution that refugees make to community.
Due to the current climate, SSI and RCOA engaged communities and the wider public by virtual means, and developed a suite of online resources, webinar-style events, and mini interactive online activities and campaigns across SSI’s and RCOA’s websites and social media channels. Refugee community champions and ambassadors were identified to lead creative activities.
RCOA and SSI co-hosted a forum focused on refugee and asylum-seeking women and leaders of frontline services to share their experiences of life during the COVID-19 pandemic.
SSI curated a virtual exhibition, Connecting through Welcome, showcasing submissions from the community about what welcome means to them.
Here are some of SSI’s key media highlights for Refugee Week 2020:
What you may have missed in all of this is NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller speaking out about the officer’s unblemished record, saying that “you would have to say [the officer] has had a bad day”.
What concerned me about this was not Commissioner Fuller coming to the defence of an employee – I’m the leader of a large organisation myself and understand that nuanced responsibility.
But I couldn’t escape the parallels between his words and those we have worked so hard to eradicate in situations of domestic and family violence: words that excuse the behaviour of perpetrators of violence as a one-off snap by an otherwise good father/husband/son/community member.
When Hannah Clarke and her children were burned alive by her husband, media headlines focused on her husband’s former rugby league career – some even characterised the murders as a ‘horrific car fire’.
Even once the circumstances were clarified, we still heard tone deaf remarks from those in charge of the investigation – indicating they were keeping “a completely open mind” – and reference to those who might think it was “an instance of a husband being driven too far”.
As journalist Juanita Phillips pointed out about media reporting on another DFV incident: “The “good bloke” descriptor in domestic murder cases is so automatic the headline writer used it even though nobody in the story actually described him that way.”
Admittedly, police officers do face different – and additional – pressures to those we find in domestic violence situations. Every day, they deal with vulnerable and sometimes violent individuals where the use of physical force is necessary. They have to make snap decisions and often place themselves in situations of great physical danger.
But, as police officers, they also make a commitment to serve our community and role model the laws they enforce.
If officers were called out to a domestic situation where a parent had pushed a swearing teenager to the ground and restrained them, I would be appalled if they accepted the excuse that the parent was just ‘having a bad day’.
Thanks to technology, our behaviour is subject to more intense scrutiny. As pillars of the community, it is up to police – both officers and leaders – to step up to the standards we set for them and to act with integrity.
Violet Roumeliotis
SSI CEO
Abdallah Al Tibi was a peer researcher in a project led by the NSW Coordinator General for Refugee Resettlement, Peter Shergold.
As a middle child of six siblings, Mr Al Tibi was a mere sixteen-year-old when his family had fled Syria in seek of safety.
Before 2011 and the outbreak of war, the Al Tibi family lived a comfortable existence in their hometown, the tranquil and agricultural city of Daraa, where their father, Ayman, held dual occupations; one as a civil servant working at Syria’s department of telecommunications, and another as the owner of several successful farms in the region specialising in the cultivation of fruits such as grapes and pomegranates.
The Al Tibi family were among the earliest groups of Syrians to flee the war as the city of Daraa had been one of the first areas of Syria to be under attack. Mr Al Tibi recalls the incremental changes in their day-to-day lives, starting with electricity cuts and being stuck at school unable to go home during the attacks.
“It was like a horror movie; during that time, we were often unable to leave school if the area was under attack; it was very stressful.”
Mr Al Tibi spent three years in limbo in Jordan before his family had been granted their humanitarian visas to Australia in 2014. During this period, he and his siblings had limited access to education as they were not able to attend local schools in Jordan during the day and only during after-hours.
When the Al Tibi family were given the news that they were being resettled in Australia, Mr Al Tibi said that they were overwhelmed with a sense of relief.
“We knew it was a life-changing opportunity, and as we are a family of high achievers, we put double the effort to learn English when we arrived.”
Arriving in Sydney airport in December of 2014, the Al Tibi family were greeted by Settlement Services International (SSI), who provided with them with wrap-around case management services, including finding temporary accommodation.
Today, members of the Al Tibi family have demonstrated their high-achieving streak with most of the siblings completing degrees. Mr Al Tibi has a brother who is undertaking a civil engineering degree, another brother who is completing his degree in architecture, and a sister who is completing her degree to become a primary school teacher. Mr Al Tibi is also completing his Bachelor of Social Work at Western Sydney University (WSU) while working at MYAN in community outreach and SSI as a part-time bi-lingual guide.
In the past, Mr Al Tibi worked for Thrive LMA for almost two years supporting refugee youth, and more recently, Mr Al Tibi has been able to expand on his data analysis skills and had the opportunity to become a peer researcher in a person-centred project led by the NSW Coordinator General for Refugee Resettlement, Peter Shergold.
The project aims to improve the settlement experience of young people from a refugee background in NSW and builds the capacity of young people to understand and influence the policy process and the NSW Government to design policies that are informed by lived experience.
The initiative is an innovative case study for policymaking in NSW that can inform future participatory design initiatives. It is a unique opportunity for young people from a refugee background, community and the NSW Government to improve programs collaboratively.
Last year, Mr Al Tibi was a speaker on the project at the annual FECCA 2019 conference sharing its findings.
Iraqi-born researcher and refugee Rami Alsaberi with his family at the Penrith Observatory.
Before fleeing the crisis in Iraq in 2013, the Alsaberi family led a comfortable life, other than their youngest family member who has Down Syndrome, all members of the family were well-educated with stable jobs.
After a seventeen-hour drive, the Alsaberi family arrived in their host country where they were supported by, and under the protection of, UNHCR Jordan. When asked about what life in Jordan was like, Mr Alsaberi said it wasn’t easy.
“Not being able to work in Jordan was annoying, but Jordanian people were very friendly and supportive, and UNHCR also supported us.”
After three years in limbo, the Alsaberi family were delivered a message of hope; their humanitarian visa application to Australia was accepted. When asked about how that moment had felt, Mr Alsaberi said that it is difficult to put it into words.
“We rejoiced, but we felt mixed emotions; happiness with fear,” Mr Alsaberi said.
“Happiness for a new beginning and future, fear about what the new country, the community would be like.”
Although, these fears were short-lived, as on arrival they felt instantly welcomed to the country by the Settlement Services International (SSI) team who received them at the Sydney airport.
“SSI helped us with our luggage, took us to our new home in Mount Druitt and, provided us with two years of case management support; we felt very happy in Australia.”
When Mr Alsaberi arrived in Australia equipped with a master degree in astronomy from Baghdad University, it was his mission to continue his dream of leading an academic career and to complete a PhD in Australia.
“I had few dreams before I came to Australia, first to reach Australia, second to work and to do my PhD in astronomy.”
Like most new arrivals, Mr Alsaberi was eager to find himself suitable employment. Yet, despite having substantial work experience back in Baghdad where he had worked at the ministry of science and technology, he wasn’t able to secure himself employment in his field.
Within a year, Mr Alsaberi was accepted into Western Sydney University to undertake his PhD under the supervision of Professor Miroslav Filipovic, who he had met at a sheer stroke of luck after sending an inquiry email to the Penrith observatory. Prof Miroslav Filipovic also happened to be the Chair of the observatory and showed an interest in his background and invited me to meet him the very next day.
“I found observatory at Penrith WSU, and I sent an email to the manager showing him my interest to see and learn about observatory in Australia, I had never saw one in my life,” he said.
“Next day the manager replied and invited me to come.”
After Mr Alsaberi had introduced himself, Prof Miroslav Filipovic showed an interest in Mr Alsaberi’s background and asked him if he’s interested in undertaking a PhD in astronomy, and this took Mr Alsaberi by surprise.
“It was shocking for me as I didn’t expect it,” he said.
“I told him that it was my dream.”
Prof Miroslav Filipovic offered to be his PhD supervisor and guided him through the application process.
“The University of Baghdad prepared an original letter in English to help with my PhD application.”
As a fulltime PhD student of astronomy, Mr Alsaberi’s research is in the field of radioastronomy, and on the subject of supernova remnants.
Today, three years on, the Iraqi refugee is a lead researcher at the facility and recently made an exciting new discovery, which has seen his research published in one of the world’s most prestigious astronomy journals, the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, one of the leading peer-reviewed astronomy journals.
His research has been in the public limelight and was featured across the media. Mr Alsaberi led the discovery of the first moving pulsar in The Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way, which is visible from Earth.
“This pulsing star is really unique in both the small and large Magellanic Cloud.”
“This is the only pulsar that moves in both galaxies, and our mission now is to find out what is the dynamic behind this movement,” he said.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling, so far I had three dreams that came true – I came to Australia, I started my PhD and I visited some of the best radio telescopes in Australia, I can’t describe my feelings.”
Mr Alsaberi recently wrote about the connection between new arrivals and Australia’s First Nations communities. Click here to read his op-ed.
Learn more about SSI’s Humanitarian Settlement Program here.
This time last year, SSI celebrated Refugee Week at the New Beginnings Winter Festival.
Not only has the pandemic changed how we come together to mark this week, it has also changed the refugee community in Australia. While we are all familiar with the broader economic impacts of this virus – job losses, underemployment, businesses folding – many Australians have been insulated from just how far and wide the impact of this virus has permeated within our CALD communities.
The group this pandemic has most put at risk are people who are either still seeking asylum in Australia on bridging visas, or people who have been found to be refugees but have no pathways to permanent residency. Both have little to no access to welfare.
People seeking asylum and temporary migrants tend to be casually employed in industries including cleaning and hospitality. Every day, we’re hearing from people who have lost their jobs because their employer can’t access the JobKeeper scheme on their behalf.
We’re hearing from people who have held jobs for eight years, paid taxes, but suddenly find themselves without access to any safety net when their employment dries up.
In addition to this, the isolation of this quarantine period has meant increased social isolation for a group already at risk of this. It has also affected the educational progress of both children and adults. Not to mention, the pressure that bulk buying and empty supermarket shelves have had on a demographic that tend to live pay cheque to pay cheque.
While a number of state governments have been forthcoming in closing this welfare gap, it is still devastating to see any community left with minimal support. It’s even more so given the theme of Refugee Week is ‘Celebrating the Year of Welcome’.
New joint research from SSI and Western Sydney University demonstrates just how impactful welcoming communities can be on new arrivals.
This joint research, Foundations for Belonging, provides a snapshot of newly arrived refugees in Australia and shines a light on under-researched social and civic dimensions of integration: social bonds, social bridges, social links and rights and responsibilities.
The research examines these dimensions from the perspectives of refugees themselves and their everyday experiences of welcome, participation and belonging in the early stages of settlement.
To launch this research, we are inviting everyone to join a free online panel discussion hosted by Australia at Home, Thursday 18 June, 1pm – 2pm. To secure your place, click the link here. Please ensure you register your attendance to receive the Zoom link to join the event.
Now more than ever, it’s important to think about how we participate in creating a culture of welcome. You can:
- Participate in digital events
- Read inspiring stories of former refugees
- Donate to support families in need
Let’s come together to promote social cohesion and belonging and, above all, to do what we can to make 2020 the year of welcome.
Despite paying tax on his work for years, Damon is ineligible for the federal government’s COVID-19 emergency stimulus payments for people who have lost their jobs, due to his status as an individual seeking asylum.
“It’s been so hard for me to face and cope all the circumstances of this [pandemic]. It is so hard to suddenly lose my small photography business that I have worked on it for years, even with all the hardships and barriers of living in Australia on restricted visa conditions,” said Damon.
Unfortunately, Damon is not alone in loosing employment as a result of the pandemic.
A pulse survey conducted by SSI has identified that more than 80% of people on temporary visas had lost their job or had their hours reduced in the past eight weeks. This is far higher than the rate of job losses in the wider NSW economy.
State governments around the country have stepped up to support those seeking asylum, reducing, but not eliminating, the extreme financial distress many individuals on temporary and bridging visas are facing.
But in NSW — without access to emergency relief measures or the recently introduced JobKeeper and JobSeeker initiatives — some of the state’s most vulnerable residents are falling into poverty, unable to pay their rent or bills and put food on the table.
You can support people like Damon to stay on their feet by donating a care package of food staples here.
Damon photographed by Jenny Papalexandris.
Individuals and families seeking asylum, an already vulnerable demographic, are not only facing extreme financial hardship, but also the mental stress the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown may have on their lives.
While many Australians have been able to use the shutdown to spend quality time with their loved ones and family, many individuals like Damon have little or no family in Australia to lean on for support. Damon has not seen the majority of his family members for seven years.
The lack of Government support can only work to increase these feelings of isolation, with Damon explaining the omission of federal support for individuals seeking asylum has left him feeling alienated from wider Australia.
“As a refugee, I feel separated out from other parts of society in terms of government supports. It is hard being rejected for Job Seeker support because of my conditional visa, despite paying tax like other Australians.”
Despite his current situation, Damon still hold onto his dream to establish himself as an artist in Australia.
“My high hopes have changed to [just] hopes, but I am optimistic that I will not lose all my hope,” he said.