First community-sponsored refugees settle in Australia

The newly-arrived Venezuelan family will be supported by a group of Jewish volunteers through Stand Up’s refugee initiative, Project Eden.

The first refugee family to be sponsored by the Australian Jewish community through Project Eden has arrived in Melbourne, following nine months of planning and preparation.

The community initiative, run by social justice organisation Stand Up through a federal government program, supports new arrivals who have been identified by the United Nations as needing urgent resettlement.

The refugee family – who fled Venezuela and have little English – expressed their gratitude for their sponsors in a message delivered via Google Translate. They waited for more than four years before their refugee status was approved by the UNHCR.