In honour of Refugee Week (#withrefugees), I want to thank this Australian gentlemen pictured in the middle. 🙂
He played a key role in helping my Vietnamese Boat People fam integrate into Australian society. I believe (but could be wrong) that he was a part of Australia's Community Refugee Settlement Scheme (CRSS) which was Australia's first community sponsorship model which ran from 1979-1997.
Community groups and everyday individuals offered to initially support the resettlement and integrate 30,000 refugees from Indo-China (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos), but later expanded to include all refugees from other parts of the world.
Australia no longer runs this program but is currently running a Community Support Program (CSP) which is much more flawed and in much need of a reform since it prioritises economic factors instead of humanitarian needs.
The government should really consider more options for community involvement and sponsorship to resettle refugees, in addition to its committment and responsibility to the refugee and humanitarian program.
Let's always remember that asylum seekers and refugees are not the same as economic migrants, so shouldn't be treated as such.
Lots o' Love, Linda
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