Last weekend saw a festival held in Brisbane to mark World Refugee Day. Over the last 30 years, south-east Queensland has seen a big increase in the range of ethnic communities with a refugee background. A growing number are from our region in South-East Asia. One of the newest emerging communities in Brisbane is the Rohingyas. I hadn’t heard of them until a year or so ago. They are originally from western Burma, although a lot of them live insecurely for many years in refugee camps in Bangladesh or at risk in Malaysia.
With a difficult and emotive issue like refugees, sometimes it is helpful to look at the experiences of individual people – taking it out of the realm of political sloganeering and into the grounded reality of individual human beings.
This piece on Derek Barry’s blog tells the story of one young Rohingyan man who is now living and working in Brisbane. It’s well worth reading.
One Comment
It must be very difficult for some refugees, because they may find our culture difficult in some states where some as students and study \, some do very well and they are lovely people to chat with on many issues