Welcome to the NBRS Summer 2024 Newsletter
We had a slow start to the second half of the year. There were very few requests for
help until September and then we had a huge increase in requests for help. We paid
279 airfares in the last six months. They have arrived from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan,
Eritrea, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Congo. The Northern Beaches Refugee Sanctuary's first family arrived in June 2003. We have
now helped 9064 people from 48 different countries. The war in Gaza has spread to Lebanon. There is only one airline flying out of Beirut
and they don't fly to Australia. You must change flights, which have become very
expensive. We are limiting our assistance to $2,000 per person, which is about 60% of
the airfare. It is difficult as we have limited funds and large demand. The problem is
that there are still refugees in other countries asking us for help. We are just trying to
help as many as possible. We have seen a big increase in requests from the Afghan community. They comprise
30% of the families we have helped over the past six months. They are all desperate
to get to Australia. Afghanistan is clearly a very dangerous place especially for females.
Sadly they are also unsafe when they leave Afghanistan and are often threatened with
deportation. Refugees are also charged an exit permit to leave Pakistan or Iran. This
can make the travel very expensive. When we book the flights we often receive emails from the sponsor like this one. We
helped to bring six family members including his parents. "Hello dear David, I hope you doing well, I wanted to reach out to let you know that I have received the tickets and confirmed that
the payment has been made. I am truly grateful for your support and assistance during this time. Your help means so
much to me, and I cannot express enough how much I appreciate what you have done.
Thank you once again for being such a wonderful friend. Your generosity has made a
significant difference." Today we paid for the airfare of a family of 8. The family is the sponsor's Mum and Dad,
brother and his wife and their three children, as well as his sister. He visited them two
years ago but they were separated nearly ten years ago. He is really grateful as he is alone in Australia. He said that family are the roots in your
life. A tree without roots just dies. He will have a welcome party for the family when they
arrive in two weeks. He is so happy that the children will be able to attend school. They
are young so English will be easy to learn. He also spoke about the chance for the
women to be free to study or work, opportunities unavailable in Afghanistan. We paid $16,000 towards the airfares. We also helped a family of 16 travel from Iran. The airfares and exit permits were just
over $26,000. It was three generations of one family. We have a number of community
groups that we work with. This family was assisted by one of them. The community
worker was so worried by the situation the family was in and the difficulties the sponsor
had raising the funds. The sponsor was so relieved. They arrive next week. The
sponsor will have the support of the community to help them settle in Sydney.
We fund the travel mostly by repayments of outstanding loans. A family this size takes
about two weeks of current repayments. We also helped a family of three orphan boys. They were sponsored by their uncle who
we have helped before. This visa took over six years to complete. They were in a
refugee camp in Kenya. It is one of the largest camps in Africa. They are not safe places
as there is never enough food or water. Medical treatment is minimal. Education is
basic. They have arrived and have been enrolled in school. It will be a big adjustment
for them, but they will have the chance to get a great education. The uncle will provide
a loving and safe home. We assisted a family of eight coming from Democratic Republic of Congo. The sponsor
had saved the airfares but the family was delayed due to a visa clearance issue. When
they were finally cleared to travel the cost of the travel had increased as it was now a
more expensive time of the year. It was unexpected and she didn't have the funds. We
were able to help at short notice, which allowed them to travel. Tomorrow we will pay the airfare of a family of four. Mum and three boys coming from
Beirut. The sponsor is her sister. We had the funds allocated but the exit permit was
delayed and so they moved down the waiting list. They are now ready but we only have
half the money. One of her neighbors has offered to assist with some of the funds.
With the repayments we receive tomorrow we will pay the balance. We have no loans causing concern at present. Our only costs are the Centrelink fees.
We are looking for donations. If you want to help, please transfer the money to our account. The Northern Beaches Refugee Sanctuary Ltd Commonwealth Bank. Please email me your details so that I can email you a tax receipt. David Addington 13/11/2024 If you no longer want to receive this newsletter, can you reply with unsubscribe.
BSB 062197
Account 10993154