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[NB: information below is from July 2003]
Please come and visit us!
Groups and individuals supporting our shared clientele of refugees on temporary visas are most welcome to work from our office.
After three years of operation, two relocations and two auspices, the Romero Centre team of volunteers is passionately determined to continue community-based support for refugees whose visas are temporary. We will do this for the duration of their second class, unequal existence in our community. Faith-based and ecumenical, we enjoy the support of people throughout SE Queensland.
As long as refugees on Temporary Protection Visas are not permitted to settle and get on with their lives, Australians who believe in human rights and social justice must challenge the current and calculated Government asylum seeker and refugee policies which result in social and economic inequality and compound the suffering in their already damaged lives.
Romero Centre will continue to be a safe and welcoming place for refugees whose everyday existence is troubled by uncertainty, the lack of a future and growing anxiety and insecurity. It is a unique meeting place for these refugees and for their Australian friends and supporters.
The challenges ahead of us are many, including fundraising to support our weekly rent and operation costs when we transfer to another auspice in the near future, and are free to apply for available grants. We will incorporate as soon as practicable. Meanwhile, we look forward to your continued practical support, cooperation and generosity. Our work is not yet finished.
We expect that the Needs Analysis now being undertaken by Lifeline Brisbane for Multicultural Affairs Queensland will demonstrate a compelling need for ongoing community support for our client group ? because of its exceptional and acute vulnerability and unique circumstances. We remain a safety net for these refugees, and, in upholding social justice , also a safeguard for our whole multicultural community. The report will be made public in August.
It is to the credit of the Queensland Government and the refugee/ migrant community support sector, that access to services for refugees on temporary visas is better than in other States. But in the critical area of personal support , the needs have changed and intensified with the length (more than 3 years for some) of temporary residence, and the gut wrenching separation from family for so many. Life in limbo is taking its toll, and friendship and acceptance and practical support are more valuable than ever. Our flexible, non bureaucratic help has made and continues to make a qualitative difference to refugees? lives, and in some small measure we have been an extended family for them in the very sad absence of their own. Unequal or no access to Commonwealth funded services, especially in settlement support, has created significant disadvantage, and many refugees feel the
Government's alienation and poor treatment very keenly. They are disappointed and disillusioned. And angry at the injustice. Many Australians express their feelings of shame to us, and mourn the loss of kindness and compassion in public policy, and in our living together. Romero Centre is a place of learning and understanding and support for them too.
The community education and advocacy role of Romero volunteers has grown in importance. The Centre remains an important local and national contact point for individuals, organisations and agencies who want to know more about the issues. Bigotry and overt discrimination against Muslims is a major concern. Many people ask us how they can help refugees in the community, in detention and on Nauru. Our understanding of the key issues develops as the direct result of
continuing contact with refugees and their friends, and with other helping agencies (especially St Vincent de
Paul). We actively support other organisations -Tiger Eleven Soccer Team, Refugee Asylum Seeker Support Queensland, Refugee Action Collective, Refugee Claimants Centre, Hazara Ethnic Society etc.
Brisbane/Queensland has responded magnificently to the initial human disaster three years ago of seriously disoriented refugees landing straight out of detention into our community, without English, with no contacts and few possessions. The Minister for Immigration washed his hands of them after one day. We estimate that 300- 400 have "settled" here, and there is a constant intra and interstate movement of other refugees pursuing education and work. Most maintain a link with the Romero Centre, their unforgettable first place of welcome in Australia.
Romero Centre volunteers July 2003
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