Wyndham has the highest rate of migration in Melbourne’s west,
welcoming more than 17,000 visa holders over the past five years, new
immigration figures reveal.
Skilled migrants made up 10,216 of Wyndham’s new residents, while 6100
people on family visas settled in the area. The city is home to the
third-highest rate of humanitarian settlers in the west, taking in 1398 asylum seekers between August 2008 and July this year.
The figures follow the release of a federal Department of
Infrastructure and Transport report that found affordable housing was
attracting asylum seekers to outer-suburban areas.
But it warned that migrants and refugees living in growth areas
struggled to access jobs, with areas such as Wyndham offering few local
job opportunities.
The report found that migrants living in growth areas were often working in industries that did not fully utilise their skills.
AMES chief executive Cath Scarth said the report reinforced that
migrants, refugees and asylum seekers were often at the bottom of the
pile when it came to access to opportunity, infrastructure and services.
Wyndham Community and Education Centre chief executive Jennie
Barrera said social services were being put under pressure by the
growing number of refugees and migrants flocking to the municipality.
She said they were doing their best to help people find jobs, get
an education and integrate into the community. The centre provides
migrants with settlement support and links them with English classes,
employment and volunteering opportunities.
Mae Sie Win is one of the humanitarian entrants who has benefited from the centre’s support. Win, a Karen refugee, arrived in Wyndham 3½ years ago after spending almost a decade living in a refugee camp in Thailand.
A year ago, he was joined by his wife-to-be, Nga Myar, whose
family had settled in Sweden. The couple got engaged while living in the
refugee camp and married soon after Myar’s arrival in Australia. They
have a three-month-old daughter, Sophie.
Win took English classes through AMES and began working part-time
as an interpreter. He is now a settlement case worker with Wyndham
Community and Education Centre.
He said being able to link up with the centre had helped him find a local job and learn about everything from support services, to Australian laws and how to use public transport.
“It was a big change for us [coming to Australia]. When you arrive here, you are free. In the refugee camp you feel like you don’t count.”
