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Free services for eligible refugees, asylum seekers and humanitarian entrants to New South Wales, Australia

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Volunteer Migration Agents Wanted – August 2017

WANTED: Volunteer Migration Agents

volunteer migration agents wanted for Sydney office

AFFMA is looking for volunteer migration agents to work with our growing client base.

AFFMA is an Approved Voluntary Organisation.

Please email your expression of interest to the CEO info[@]affma.org.au

Do you have a vacancy you wish to advertise? AFFMA’s Members can advertise vacancies free of charge. Please email <Recruitment@affma.org.au>

Refugees And Asylum Seekers: Where Are We?

Over 1.2 million people are in need of resettlement.

The international community continues to fail refugees and asylum seekers by refusing to share responsibility for displaced people.

The UN Refugee Agency has reported that over 1.2 million people are in need of resettlement.

This is a global issue that requires a holistic approach, in which governments work together in order to help the most vulnerable.

Recently, the Australian government announced that a further 12,000 humanitarian places would become available in response to the conflict in Syria and Iraq. 22,406 visas have been granted to displaced persons arriving from these countries over the last two years.

However, more needs to be done. First, Australia must find a humane alternative to detention centres. Second, more funding should be allocated to local services, such as job creation, housing, and healthcare.

We must band together and help the world’s most vulnerable with a humane, international response.

Ariza Arif
BA (UNSW), LLB (Macquarie University) – Student at law.

VOLUNTEER Migration Agents Wanted – July 2017

URGENTLY WANTED: Volunteer Migration Agents

AFFMA is looking for migration agents who are willing to complete a protection visa on a pro bono basis, either at their own office/home or at AFFMA’s office in Newtown.

AFFMA is an Approved Voluntary Organisation.

Migration agents volunteering with us can claim one CPD point for every three hours of pro bono work.

Please email your expression of interest to the CEO <Recruitment@affma.org.au>

Do you have a vacancy you wish to advertise? AFFMA’s Members can advertise vacancies free of charge. Please email <Recruitment@affma.org.au>

Contributions Welcome – July 2017

We welcome contributions to our newsletter from our readers. Articles must be between 500 and 1000 words. Please send your article to <newsletter@affma.org.au>

The deadline for submission of articles is 15th of the month.

From The Acting CEO’s Desk – July 2017

More legal team members wanted!

Last month AFFMA welcomed new volunteer Migration Agents and legal assistants to the legal team, allowing us to service the steady stream of referrals from other agencies who support refugees.

We need more!

Additional volunteer migration agents are welcome to apply to join the team.

Financial overheads

The entire legal, admin, marketing, newsletter, and finance teams consist of volunteers, meaning that AFFMA has no staffing costs. This is what allows us to provide fee-free legal services to our clients. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for our office overheads, such as rent, stationery, telephone, postage, the internet, and multiple insurances.

Fundraising sale

This is why we are currently holding a fundraising sale. Click here for details. 

Karyn Clarke
Acting CEO

Refugee News – July 2017

Global

  • A loose definition of terrorism has prevented a Syrian activist from gaining refugee status in the United States. Read more.
  • A funding gap of US$1 billion within the UN Refugee Agency is threatening the welfare of Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. Read more. 
  • Changing the 1951 Refugee Convention to protect climate change refugees could lead to its demise. Read more.

At Home

  • The Australian government will pay $70 million in damages to refugees and asylum seekers held on Manus Island. Read more.
  • The United States will decide whether it will resettle 70 men on Manus Island within six weeks. Read more.

Elizabeth Wright
BComn(Griffith), MHumRights(Curtin)

Sponsor a Refugee: A $40 Donation Pays One Visa Application fee – July 2017

Please consider donating to AFFMA on behalf of your friends and relatives this year.  While donations of any amount are greatly appreciated, a gift of $40 will pay the visa application fee for one refugee.

Unlike most charitable organisations, AFFMA is run entirely by volunteers. Every cent of your donation will go to keeping our door open to the refugees that we serve. This year, give a refugee a chance for a new life in Australia.

Donations can be made securely to AFFMA through PayPal by accessing the following link:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=C9PXK25WLWR7J

Adjusting to Australian society: the aged and the young

Refugees and Australian Society.

Refugees face a great number of obstacles in adjusting to Australian society. These issues can only be resolved with our acceptance, assistance, and diligence. To lessen their sense of displacement, we must, as a community, help them adjust.

This means that first and foremost it is essential for us to welcome and accept these people who, through no fault of their own, have wound up in this land.

Though the political climate is acrid, and views are polarising fast, reality has tactlessly been exposing our inadequacies in regards to this issue. We may have laughed at the appeals of the United Nations, and ignored the abuse in off-shore centres, but we have slowly and surely become familiar with the bitter back stories and plights of refugees. Whether we chose to neglect or acknowledge and act upon the information is entirely up to us.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, integration is the process which streams into settlement. It is defined by nine aims, which are restoring an individual’s security, autonomy, and independence, allowing development and flourishing, promoting familial solidarity, allowing individuals to connect to support and assistance, upholding confidence in human rights and laws, enabling religious and cultural freedom, fighting discrimination, supporting refugee communities, and accommodating differences in family status, gender, and age.

Language Barrier, Cultural Differences, etc.

Any obstacles to these aims are also obstacles to integration, without which refugee settlement cannot be possible. The most noticeable and detrimental hurdles to integration are communication difficulties, specifically the language barrier, cultural differences, rejection of overseas skills or qualifications, lack of Australian work experience, and unfamiliarity with new equipment and/or procedures in the workplace. These challenges are taxing on refugees and can add to the effects of past torture and trauma, intensifying the deterioration of their mental health.

Integration worsens with age and employment.

In coming to Australia, refugees of all ages and races face the arduous task of integration. However, this experience varies depending on an individual’s age. The hurdles of integration worsen with age, and as presented in Dionisio Camacho’s paper on ‘The social, economic and industrial issues specific to migrant worker over 45 year of age seeking employment, or establishing  a business, following unemployment (a quantitative approach),’ aged migrants  find it harder to find employment in Australia than younger migrants.

Specifically, the time spent trying to reach Australia and being in detention further distances aged refugees from potential employment. Not only do they face the difficulty of working with new and unfamiliar technology, but their overseas qualifications and talents are often greatly neglected. Hence, many aged professionals face the embarrassment of retaking degrees or accepting inferior work. Atop these concerns, aged refugees are also threatened by the bias of employers, who tend to hire young, agile, more productive workers. These hurdles can cause frustration, which worsens the condition of already strained minds, and further isolates aged refugees.

Younger refugees face the different, yet equally cumbersome burden of adolescence. This hinders their adjustment by intensifying a feeling of disconnection from society. This is extremely damaging and can lead to deteriorating relationships, isolation, criminal activity, substance abuse, unemployment, and homelessness.

Modes of Monitoring issues.

In order to curb such issues among the aged and the young, it is vital to implement modes of monitoring and combating said issues. As suggested by the Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues (CMYI), on-arrival support should be given to young refugees, but also to the aged. Where issues with the young may require a focus on education and recreational activities, the issues of the aged would require comprehensive employment services and advice.

Additionally, both the aged and the young would benefit from professional training and development, which would demystify the culture and language, raise confidence and self-esteem, and ease away the sense of displacement.

In order for integration to be successful, it is crucial that concerns are acknowledged and recorded, so that we may monitor and understand individual needs, and implement the solution accordingly.

Furthermore, any ‘othering’ of refugees – such as labelling them ‘criminals’ and ‘illegals,’ or deeming them leeches of resources – needs to be stopped immediately. Integration is difficult as it is; there is no need to couple the negativity of closed minds to the severe and tumultuous experiences these people have had.

Shezza Khan

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