By Jonty Ralphsmith
An Indonesian cultural performance, kids activities and Uighur food were among the highlights of the City of Greater Dandenong’s refugee week event on Friday 24 April.
Greater Dandenong is a vibrant municipality enlivened by people from over 150 birthplaces who contribute to the region’s prosperity.
Mayor Jim Memeti – himself a migrant – highlighted the important role refugees play in the community.
“This week is refugee week – an opportunity to recognise the achievements and contributions of refugees in our city,” he said.
It comes after the mayor was among the Greater Dandenong councillors that visited Canberra last week to promote back your neighbour campaign calling on federal govt to make changes to visa system and federal and state govts to provide more support to individuals seeking asylum
Afghan refugee Zahra Haydar Big, who arrived in Australia in 2008 also spoke of her passion to advocate for cultural and linguistically diverse communities in the City of Greater Dandenong.
Among the refugee and migrant services in the area that were in attendance included: Refugee Resource Hub, Wellsprings for Women, Victorian Afghan associations Network, SisterWorks, Uighur Association of Victoria, Indonesian Women Friendship Network.
