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🇦🇺 Australia /Disasters & Emergencies

Couple welcomes refugees to home 'like family' in resettlement program

From ABC Australia · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • A couple in Western Australia is providing refugees with a "soft landing" by opening their home through a resettlement program.
  • Anne and John Roberts have supported families from Afghanistan and Myanmar, offering warmth and guidance during their first year.
  • The program aims to help refugees integrate into the community, with some expressing a desire to become doctors and contribute locally.

In Margaret River, Western Australia, Anne and John Roberts are offering a "soft landing" and a "warm embrace" to vulnerable refugees seeking a new life. Since early 2023, the couple has opened their home to individuals and families through a federal resettlement program, aiming to ease their transition into Australia.

Our motto is to provide a refugee family with a soft landing and a warm embrace. That sums up what we do.

— Anne RobertsDescribing the couple's approach to welcoming refugees into their home.

The Robertses are participants in the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot (CRISP) program, which trains volunteers to support refugees during their crucial first year of settlement. The Australian government has since announced the program will become a permanent fixture in the nation's Refugee and Humanitarian Program.

Volunteering with CRISP has helped Mrs. Roberts alleviate a sense of helplessness regarding global humanitarian crises. The couple has supported a family from Afghanistan and is currently assisting a family of political refugees from Myanmar. They describe the initial meeting at the airport as emotional, akin to welcoming their own family.

We can't help everybody, but this program is something we can do, especially in our small community down here, even if it's just a drop in the ocean of need for refugees.

— Anne RobertsExplaining the couple's motivation and the scope of their involvement in the resettlement program.

"When people arrive and they're lost and bewildered, to welcome them and guide them through their integration is very fulfilling," Mrs. Roberts stated. She has been particularly moved by the resilience and kindness shown by the refugees. The daughters of the first family they supported have expressed aspirations to become doctors and work in regional Western Australia, inspired by the community's support and local medical services.

It was very emotional when we met them at the airport, even though it was the first time we'd seen them in the flesh.

— Anne RobertsRecounting the initial meeting with the refugee family they supported.

One refugee, Mohamad Yasin Sadat, who fled war-torn Afghanistan as a teenager, spent nine years in an Indian refugee camp before arriving in Australia a year ago. Now 24, he misses his family but has adapted to their absence. He is eager to work and contribute to the community, reflecting the program's goal of fostering integration and mutual contribution.

It was wonderful, like seeing your own family arrive.

— Anne RobertsDescribing the feeling of welcoming refugees into their home.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Australia. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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