Job makes refugees feel they’ve arrived

WHAT does having a job mean to a refugee?
“I’m happy,” was Dandenong man Hussain Bakhtiari’s simple response, a grin on his face.
CatholicCare guided him into employment at Cabrini Linen Service (CLS) in Dandenong South.
Tomasa Morales, the south eastern cluster team leader for CatholicCare’s refugee and settlement program, spoke out following the Dropping off the Edge report’s release.
“It’s very important to find employers who are willing to give a chance to newly-arrived families, who are willing to be mentors for them, to give them the opportunity to learn in the workplace,” she said.
“If you are at home doing nothing you lose interest in learning.”
Ms Morales pointed to Dandenong man Baqit Yazdani.
“Now that he’s working he knows that he needs to improve his English,” she said.
“Now he’s come back to the men’s conversation group.”
CLS compliance manager Elsa Chung said workers learnt on the job and a buddy system helped them to gain experience and knowledge.
“It’s providing them with skills that they can take elsewhere,” she said.
“I think it makes them feel more comfortable that there are other people learning the language just as much as they are.
“It’s not about spoon-feeding them. It’s about providing the opportunity.”
CatholicCare CEO Father Joe Caddy said the organisation had been working in Doveton and Dandenong for several years.
“It was terribly disappointing to hear that the ranking of many of these communities has not improved since similar studies were first conducted in 1999,” he said.
“The findings of the report confirm what we have observed while working with families in these communities – their needs are complex and solutions are neither quick nor easy.
“We have found that the best outcomes have been achieved when we have worked in close partnership with local government and the community and business sectors.”
Fr Caddy said inadequate and short-term funding was one of the greatest challenges.
“Effective solutions can only be achieved with sustained approaches and long-term partnerships,” he said.
“Only then will we see enduring positive change for these communities and a better future for the people that live in them.”
– CASEY NEILL