From the CEO’s desk – March 2017

Greetings and welcome to the first edition of our newsletter for 2017.

Our offices have been open for more than a month in 2017 and we are in full swing with our operations, assisting those most vulnerable in our international community.

While we enjoy an unseasonably warm summer, please spare a thought for those refugees suffering through a bitterly cold winter in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. With previous safe havens such as the United States radically altering their refugee policies, the plight of refugees across the world is getting more desperate.

Time to come together.

Now is the time to come together and campaign for an increased intake in Australia. We need to call on politicians at all levels of government to reassess immigration policy. Australia accepts almost 200,000 migrants every year (the very people that have kept the country out of a technical recession for years, incidentally; Australia essentially imports increased demand in the form of a higher population). It is simply unacceptable that only 10% of those migrants are refugees or asylum seekers. This goes against the purported egalitarian nature of Australian society. What happened to the proverbial fair go?

This month’s newsletter will delve deeper into the topic of Trump, adding to our Newsletter Team Leader’s comments in last month’s newsletter on the problems associated with radical, far-right policies.

Thank you again for reading and for your valued support. If you are looking to assist AFFMA during 2017, please note that our fundraising efforts continue. Making a contribution is a terrific way to start the year!

Gene Waters
LLB, Grad Cert of Migration Law and Practice
Pro Bono Migration Agent,MARN:1685583
Acting CEO