Refugee Week

22 June, 2023

Iwan WALTERS (Greenvale) (10:33): My community of Greenvale has a long and proud history of welcoming refugees escaping oppression and persecution in different parts of the world. From 2012 to 2021 the City of Hume, which encompasses Greenvale, had the largest refugee intake of any Victorian LGA, resettling some 12,000 humanitarian visa holders, which makes the values and messages of Refugee Week and this year’s theme, ‘Finding Freedom’, particularly resonant locally. On Sunday night I was delighted to celebrate the beginning of Refugee Week with friends and neighbours and to reflect on the remarkable contribution of refugee communities to our local, state and national society, at a very special evening of cultural music and dance hosted by the incredible team at Australian Chaldean Family Welfare. Australian Chaldean Family Welfare is an outstanding community organisation which supports the resettlement of and builds community capacity for Chaldean and Arabic-speaking migrants and refugees, many of whom bravely fled tyranny, oppression and persecution on account of their language, faith and culture in Iraq and Syria to be with us. I particularly acknowledge the important work of my constituent Ms Dalal Sleiman, president and founder of Australian Chaldean Family Welfare. Having arrived in Australia as a refugee herself, Ms Sleiman has generously dedicated her life in Australia to assisting new arrivals to gain confidence and skills to participate more easily in our broader community while also retaining and celebrating the cultural and faith traditions that have endured for millennia.