Liam McNally
For more than 20 years, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) has been providing vital support to people seeking asylum in Australia, but now financial pressures are putting the service at risk.
The ASRC is quickly running out of savings, with the executive team warning its only has a month and a half before it will be forced to close its doors.
ASRC chief executive and founder Kon Karapanagiotidis said the centre needs the community’s help to keep its doors open after supporting those seeking asylum.
“Despite sticking to our budgets, cost of living and inflationary pressures means public donations are down 45 per cent since July 2022,“ he said.
“Despite a number of interventions, such as reducing our workforce by 10 per cent in August last year, our savings are running out and we have just six weeks to save the ASRC from stopping to deliver critical services.”
ASRC refugee leadership and advocacy director Ogy Simic understands first-hand the importance of services like the ASRC.
At four years old, Mr Simic was forced to leave his home in Sarajevo when civil war broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He left with his mother and siblings while his father, a journalist, remained and was killed during the conflict.
After years of relocations, Mr Simic’s family was granted refugee visas and settled in Adelaide when he was 11 years old.
He described the “culture shock” of arriving in a distant country, where he didn’t speak the language.
“It was organisations like the ASRC that supported us. We had somebody meet us at the airport who provided support for us to be able to enrol in school, to be able to set up a bank account, set up a Medicare, all of those things are really important,” he said.
“We have a huge number of people who are in need of organisations like the ASRC in order to get by.
“For so many people the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre is their doctor, is their pharmacy, is their supermarket, and that’s so unique for an organisation to be like that.”
Donations help the ASRC keep its doors open and provide food, housing, healthcare, legal support and other essential services to the 7000 people who rely on its services every day.
Of the people seeking asylum in Australia, 97 per cent have no access to social support systems, including income, housing as well as educational assistance and legal aid.
Mr Karapanagiotidis said the ASRC still has a lot of work left to do.
“There are thousands and thousands of people seeking asylum who have been denied their basic rights by governments that seek to dehumanise and harm.
“We are asking the community to help save a movement of hope, welcome and compassion.”
Details: donate.asrc.org.au/donatetoday
