The Wire

There has been another call this week from a rural community for their local refugee workers to be given secure residency and be allowed to stay. Since last December the number of Temporary Protection Visa holders given permanency has gained pace. Marian Jamieson from Albany and Anne Bell from Young in NSW talked about their respective communities and the effect the PPV’s have had on morale among refugees in the area. Margaret Piper from the Australian Refugee Association says only those who arrived before September 2001 are able to be granted PPVs and the test of whether government policy is softening in an election year will come when the later arrivals come up for renewal in September this year.

Rural Australians for Refugees