Published: 24 December 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
ANNE SUSSKIND: The Jewish Independent, B’nai Brith and Stand Up raised $106k, which will help up to ten refugees in Nauru and PNG apply to resettle in Canada, and support them there
IN THE SHORT WINDOW between when Covid restrictions were eased and the Omicron panic, when Australians had time to think about other things, three Jewish organisations – The Jewish Independent, B’nai Brith, and Stand Up – raised $106,500 for Operation #NotForgotten, to enable up to ten refugees stranded in Nauru and PNG to apply to Canada, and help support them in their first year there.
The donations came from private individuals, said Ilona Lee, who is General Manager of The Jewish Independent, and ranged from $20 to several thousand. The fund-raising campaign, which had been delayed because of Covid – during which time anyone with spare money was using it to support people here – was evidence of the Jewish community’s “obligation to look outside ourselves… as a refugee people, we are looking after the strangers”, she said.
Once in Canada, the new arrivals will be supported by settlement teams recruited by Ads Up Canada, founded by Dr Laura Beth Bugg and Dr Juliet Donald, both Australian expats who now live in Toronto, and by MOSAIC, a refugee settlement agency in Vancouver. The settlement teams provide emotional and social support for newcomers for the first year they are in Canada.
The Jewish community has an obligation to look outside ourselves… as a refugee people, we are looking after strangers - ILONA LEE
Bugg, who has been raising money in Canada for those trapped in the Australian system, said she was “blown away” by the effort. “We are so grateful that this will allow us to submit more applications.”
Paul Power, the CEO of the Refugee Council of Australia (#NotForgotten is their program), said the resettlement, which was organised under the auspices of Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees scheme, can cost anywhere between $21,500 for an individual and $36,500 for a family of five, averaging out at about $16,500 per person. The money is used for basic expenses in the first year, after which most have found employment or can go on government income support.
