House of Welcome open

Sydney
13 July 2003

Sleepless nights, then it was music to the ears of cathedral worshippers

Outrage at ‘bishop’ ad on TV

Church watchdog reviews Towards Healing protocol

Union bid to slash Catholic school funds

Susie a winner at St Cecilia’s

Foodbank sales break $1m barrier

Spiritans mark 300 years

Editorial: Virtual visit to Vatican

Letters: Vernacular

Conversation: Ryan Macalyk - student at St Ignatius College, Riverview - Great days and good knights for ‘Wheels’

Biblical perspective on life’s problems

Mysteries of Light CD will aid Emmaus in Perth

Kids starve in East Timor

House of Welcome open

Sylvester II - Pope from IM to 1003

Child’s Bible passes landmark with 40 millionth copy

Schools rally to call for Winter Appeal

House of Welcome open

Celebrating the opening of the new House of Welcome at Carramar were (from left) Melissa Croft, the Rev Ray Williamson, Sr Aileen Crowe, Archbishop George Pell, Sr Lorraine Phelan, Margaret Piper and Fr Jim Carty

By Chris Lindsay

A new House of Welcome for refugees and asylum seekers freed from detention has been opened in Carramar, western Sydney.

The centre is run by the NSW Ecumenical Council, which represents virtually all Christian Churches in the state.

It is entirely funded by the Catholic, Anglican and Uniting Churches, the Franciscan Friars, the Mercy Foundation and Fairfield Council.

“What we provide is a drop in centre and a safe environment,” says Fr Jim Carty the co-ordinator of the centre at 140 Wattle Ave, Carramar.

“We give what welfare assistance we can, such as temporary housing and financial support.

“There are free English and computer classes and Jobsearch help for those who are allowed to work.

“There are also respite holidays provided by volunteer rural families, which are a wonderful experience for both the refugees and the volunteers.

“We also provide information on their homeland so when they are interviewed by immigration they are aware of any developments that may affect their situation.

“There is ongoing contact with our 35 to 40 regular volunteers, including an Arabic-speaking volunteer who helps those who cannot speak English.

“We also provide referrals to legal assistance and health care. The Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors also provides counselling when needed.

“These people have a lot of fear of the unknown, and this really comes to the surface when their visa renewal comes due.”

Margaret Piper, executive director of the Refugee Council of Australia, opened the centre, saying: “The clients of the House of Welcome are people who came to Australia because they believed it was a country of decency and compassion, a Western democracy in which they could find protection and where they could rebuild their lives free of the fear and abuse that characterises their lives in their homeland and which forced them to flee.

“Instead they found a very different land, a land with policies driven by xenophobia and where policy makers believe it is legitimate to go to extraordinary lengths to achieve political goals.”

The House of Welcome began in September 2001 in a shopfront in Cabramatta and then moved to another shopfront in Carramar.

Now the Franciscans have bought an old butcher’s shop in Carramar and renovated it to provide the centre with a permanent home.

Ironically the shops on both sides are run by former refugees from Vietnam who are successful businessmen.

Fr Jim says many of the clients of the House of Welcome are Afghanis and Iraqis fleeing persecution, “but when they got here the Federal Government locked them up”.

“Since then the Government has introduced temporary protection visas so that they can be sent home if the reason for refuge no longer exists.

“Until then they are released into the commun-ity with limited access to resources, where they remain in limbo.

“The House of Welcome fills the gap between release and integration into Australian society, particularly for those with no links into the Australian community, such as family.

“However as more punitive legislation was introduced by the Government there have been two more categories for release - bridging visas E category and habeas corpus releases.

“Category E people are waiting for their appeals to be heard to finally settle their cases and are released with no right to benefits.

“In NSW alone there are 377 of these, of which 355 are not allowed to work. They are reliant on places like House of Welcome unless they have friends or relatives in the community.”

Fr Jim says habeas corpus cases are those have failed to win asylum visas but whom no country will take.

“Some have been in detention for four years, and the Government has legislation before the Senate to have them locked up indefinitely,” he said.

“The habeas corpus people have to report to the police in person twice a week and by phone three times a week but are not even given bus or train fares to get to the police station.

“The Federal Government is trying to make the situation so punitive that no one will want to come to Australia.

“All these people are left to the mercy of organisations like the House of Welcome.”