The first group of Burmese Chin refugees has arrived in Melbourne from Malaysia, following the signing of a controversial swap deal between the two governments last month.
And while the legal battles continue in Australia over whether Malaysia is fit to host asylum seekers, the deal offers a lifeline for thousands of refugees currently living in the Asian country.
Clara Tran of Radio Australia reports.
Churchgoers from the Burmese Chin community in Kuala Lumpur are celebrating mass.
As refugees who've fled persecution in their homeland, many of them now have a reason to give thanks.
Australia is offering a lifeline to thousands of refugees living in Malaysia, the majority of whom will be from the Chin ethnic group.
Refugee and spokesman Patrick Sasn Bawi Hnin:
“When I heard this news, this is for us, for refugees, Malaysia is big news, very good news. We accept, we welcome the news very much.”
Australia has been resettling 500 refugees from Malaysia annually for several years as part of its humanitarian program with the United Nations Refugee Agency, the UNHCR.
Now, under the asylum deal signed last month, Australia will resettle an extra 1,000 refugees a year over the next four years. In exchange, Malaysia will take 800 asylum seekers that arrive in Australia by boat.
Paul Power is the head the Refugee Council of Australia.
He says although Australia's immigration policy is highly controversial and politically divisive, the government's record on refugee resettlement is seen as among the best in the world.
“There is a recognition in Australian policy that refugees who are resettled are not people who are migrating by choice. They're people who have lost their homeland because of persecution, they've been living in a country where they can't remain indefinitely and often living in very difficult circumstances, and they arrive in Australia with nothing. So that's taken into account in terms of the support they receive and also, there are various services put in place so the resettlement in Australia and the long-term contribution to Australian society can be as successful as possible.”
Q. So what can the Chin refugees who've been nominated by the UNHCR for resettlement expect once they touch down on Australian soil?
“When people arrive, if they come through the refugee program, they're met at the airport by people who speak their language who assist them to settle in a rented accommodation. There is some short-term assistance for a matter of four weeks with the rent in the place that they're moved into and then they take on responsibility for paying that rent in the longer-term. People have access to English classes through the Adult Migrant English program if they need that and the vast majority of cases people do. And then as refugees, they are immediately given the same rights and entitlements that permanent residents of Australia would receive.”
Former Chin refugee Tunsawnkhai Sokhai is among the lucky ones. After fleeing Burma in 2001, he spent more than five years in Malaysia before being resettled in Australia.
And Mr Sokhai has only praise for his adopted country.
“Everything is positive for restart our new life. Everything is totally different from our country and even from Malaysia. We feel secure, number one and also, we receive the government social benefits and also opportunities to study and work, and yeah everything is positive.”
Paul Power from the Refugee Council, says people like Mr Sokhai may have endured difficult journeys to get to Australia, but they go on to make a significant contributions to the country.
“Australia has welcomed around 700,000 resettled refugees since 1947. And certainly there's nothing to suggest that people who are coming through the refugee resettlement program are any different to those that have come in previous years. They face the same sort of difficulties that Indo-Chinese refugees faced in the late 1970s, and 1980s. But they also come with the same long-term potential that we've seen developed from refugee groups that have come from previous eras.”
Source : www.asiacalling.org
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