Such families have suffered greatly. They are escaping horrors
unimaginable to Australian families. All they need to escape
such horrors is help with the airfare. They cannot raise money
if they are in a refugee camp, while family members in Australia
are mostly new arrivals and do not have the ability to source
such funds. Once they arrive there are very good services to
support them
We are currently
focusing on helping people from Sierra Leone but we will assist
any refugee if we have the funds.
Sierra Leone
is ranked 176 out of 177 countries for quality of life by the U.N.
Australia is third.
Life expectancy
in Sierra Leone is 40: In Australia
it is 80.
Each child coming to
Australia from
Sierra Leone doubles their life expectancy.
The average
airfare is about $2,000 per person - A big benefit for a small
amount.
The Northern
Beaches Refugee Sanctuary is looking for associate members. For a
donation of $50 or more a year you can join us in our work. We will
send you two newsletters containing updates of what we are doing and
news of the families once they have arrived.
See
Friends of NBRS
Australia
allocates 13,000 refugee visas each year; 7,000 of these
visas are Special Humanitarian Visas and the recipients
or their sponsor are required to pay their travel costs.
If they are unable to pay the airfares then NBRS will
lend them the travel costs interest free. Once the
families are settled in Australia, they are expected to
repay the loan within two years. Then the money can be
reused to bring other refugee families.