Elsie Adamo
AFTER a two-year wait, refugees are starting to settle in Mount Gambier again.
So far four families have moved to Mount Gambier to start a new life, one from Myanmar, one from Syria and two from Iraq.
The first family came in late May, with three others following in June.
Mount Gambier Migrant Resource Centre manager Anelia Blackie said the families settled over the last months have been waiting since the start of the pandemic for their new home.
“All four families that arrived now had visas to travel to Australia since before the travel ban,” Ms Blackie said.
“During the travel ban there was this misconception that refugees were still coming in, but they could not, there was no travel and that applied to everyone.
“All of them had to wait for the travel ban to pass before they could come.”
Ms Blackie retold how one family had even been at the airport waiting to board a plane when they were told their flight, and all others to Australia had been cancelled.
“They are from Myanmar, and they lived in a refugee camp in Thailand for many years,” Ms Blackie said.
“They had given up their place in the camp to another family on the waiting list, they have sold all their belongings or given them away and said goodbye to everyone.
“They got to the airport in Bangkok and they [airport staff] said sorry, your flight has been cancelled. They had to wait until May this year.”
Ms Blackie said the families have been settling in as well as can be expected.
“It can be a very scary process, especially if they cannot speak English,” she said.
“They do not know how to get to the shops, they do not know what to buy, they do not know how things work here.
“They are away from their families.”
The families from Syria and Iraq are Yazidi, an ethnic and religious minority group that is persecuted by ISIS.
“You can imagine what they have been through,” Ms Blackie said.
One of the main problems new migrants and refugees to the area face, according to Ms Blackie, is getting their drivers licence. With only a limited number of teachers in town, it is difficult to get enough practice hours in.
“You basically cannot get a job if you do not have a licence, but you need driving lessons to get a licence,” she said.
“There are not enough instructors in town to help them.
“We are looking for any volunteers who would be able to help get their driving hours up.”
The rental crisis has been a concern for Ms Blackie, with one family still in a motel while they are able to find a suitable rental.
“There are not a lot of rental options at the moment,” she said.
“And prices are going up as well. There are only a limited number of properties in town that are affordable.”
Despite the difficulties, Ms Blackie said she was pleased to be able to welcome new families into the region for the first time in so long.
More refugees are expected to settle in Mount Gambier in the coming months
“They will come on an ongoing basis, we are expecting two to three families a month,” Ms Blackie said.
