Refugee crisis: some of the many ways Australians can help
|
Version 0 of 1. On Wednesday the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, announced Australia would take 12,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees in a one-off emergency increase in response to the Syrian crisis. Working in conjunction with the UNHCR, Australia officials will select and process refugees from camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey and resettle them in Australia. Related: Refugee response shows that when voters speak loudly, politicians listen | Lenore Taylor Women, children and families from persecuted minorities will be prioritised, and all 12,000 will be granted permanent residency. The hope among government officials is to have everyone settled by the middle of next year. The government also pledged $44m in extra funds to the UNHCR and other refugee agencies. There are millions more from the Middle East and North Africa who have been internally displaced or are seeking asylum in Europe. Here are a few ways you can help in Australia: Donate There are a number of established NGOs working on the ground to support people fleeing into Europe. Some have appeals running specifically to fund the current crisis. You can find more of them here. •The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) is providing shelter, food, water and medical care to refugees in each country of reception. The UNHCR welcomed the Australian government’s announcement, but said: “As winter approaches there is still a critical shortfall of US$2.85bn resulting in drastic cuts for the bare necessities for refugees. Food assistance has had to be cut by 30% and many families will find themselves short of life-saving items.” You can donate directly to the UNHCR here. •The Australian Red Cross is taking donations for its “refugees and asylum seekers in crisis” appeal to provide housing, food and social support, as well as community education in Australia. The Red Cross is also working in Syria and donations to its Syria appeal will fund humanitarian support there. The money will go towards health care, food, water and relief items through the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, specialist aid workers and work in neighbouring countries to support displaced people. •World Vision is taking donations in its Syrian crisis appeal, and is also calling for people to sign its petition to the Australian government calling for it to: Offer your food, time or home (and donate) •Rise is a community organisation aimed at supporting refugees and asylum seekers within Australia, and campaigning for policy change. It is run and governed by refugees, asylum seekers and former detainees, and helps people in the early stages of settlement, including the areas of housing, welfare and employment. Refugees and asylum seekers have access to a drop-in centre, a food bank and a resource library. “Our involvement across these areas is as a go-between, advocating and facilitating migrant needs with relevant governmental departments and NGO partners,” the Rise website says. •The asylum seeker resource centre is providing services to more than 1200 asylum seekers in the community, including shelter, food, medical care and legal assistance. You can make one-off or monthly donations, volunteer or get involved in its activism – $50 a month will provide medical care to 10 asylum seekers for a week. •The Australian homestay network facilitates and supports people to host refugees in their home. In 2012-13 the Australian homestay network placed 600 people who were released from detention on bridging visas with Australian households, providing support for those who took in asylum seekers. But the program ended when government policy changed to rule that no one who arrived by boat would be settled in Australia. This week, however, the network opened up registrations for expressions of interest and is receiving them at the rate of one a minute from across regional and metropolitan Australia. “It’s heartening for us to say the silent majority actually want to do something,” its chairman, David Bycroft, told Guardian Australia. “Last time we did this and we went to the media … we had 4000 registrations. This time we expect a lot more.” The organisation has been contacted by one state government already, and will talk to others over coming weeks to determine where they go from here, and how to do it. “There’s a bit of work to do with the government. But we’re just getting ready in case,” said Bycroft. •Host a welcome dinner in your area. The project is run by the Joining the Dots organisation and organises bring-a-plate dinners for the newly arrived and long-term Australians to meet and get to know each other in the comfort of their own home. Register for a dinner here, or donate to the project here. “The aim of these pot-luck-style dinners is to create a platform for meaningful connection, sparking friendships between people of diverse cultures who are living in close proximity to one another but have not had an opportunity to connect in a supported environment,” reads the website. •Australian refugee volunteers works with children and families in Sydney, running programs and taking them on regular outings to help them settle in Australia, socialise with other children, and improve physical and mental health. Its co-president, Kieran Brown, said the organisation is working with about 55 kids but it has the capacity to expand. People can donate through its crowdfunding project to run a holiday camp, or volunteer. The organisation intends to hold holiday camps for refugee kids “to empower children from traumatic refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds in an exciting, positive and relaxed environment”. Brown said volunteers – who all go through police and working-with-children checks – should be “someone committed to helping out”. “We’re an apolitical organisation ... Anyone who wants to help out and makes kids lives better.” •The Darwin asylum seeker support and advocacy network and the Melaleuca refugee centre work with, respectively, asylum seekers in detention at the nearby Wickham Point immigration facility and refugees who wish to settle in the Northern Territory. |