AMES Australia has appealed for anyone with a rental property in Wyndham or St Albans to open their hearts to refugees from Afghanistan.
The not-for-profit organisation provides English training, employment services, community engagement and settlement support to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
AMES spokesperson Laurie Nowell said that almost 2000 Afghan refugees have arrived in Victoria, as a result of the airlift out of Kabul in August.
Overall, tens of thousands of Afghans have fled the country since the Taliban stepped back into power, after the United States withdrew its troops.
Australia is taking in Afghan refugees under its national humanitarian visa program.
Mr Nowell said that AMES was assisting many of the Afghan refugees in Victoria searching for permanent rental housing.
“They have come out of hotel quarantine and are being housed in short-term accommodation – mostly units that would normally be used by international students,” he said.
“About 15-20 per cent of them are seeking to settle in the west around Werribee and Wyndham and St Albans, where there are already established communities of Afghanis.
“The majority are families – some of them up to 10 people – so they are seeking large-ish family homes.”
Mr Nowell said that the COVID pandemic was making it difficult for the refugees to find rental homes, with the market in the west facing strong demand from tenants at the moment.
“There is an added complication because some (of the refugees) do not have full ID documentation – making it more difficult to get a real estate agent to lease a home,” Mr Nowell.
Reza (not his real name), who recently arrived in Melbourne from Afghanistan with his extended family, is hoping to find a rental house in Werribee or nearby.
“We are very grateful to have found a safe place in Australia and we want to move into our own home,” Reza said.
“My parents and my siblings and I want to live close to Werribee where we have friends living and where I hope to find a job.”
Call AMES on 9938 4031 if you can help out with a rental property for refugees.
