The success of the Karen community’s integration in Bendigo is a roadmap for other country towns on looking for the benefits of refugee resettlement.
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A new report shows that the Bendigo economy has reaped $67.1 million in the past decade as a result of Karen refugees who have built new lives in our city.
The report by settlement agency AMES Australia and Deloitte Access Economics found that the Karens were valued for their strong work ethic and commitment to the area. They had created an an extra 177 full-time equivalent jobs by 2016 and in the same year $11.7million of Bendigo’s gross regional product could be traced to the Karen community.
The Karens’ arrival has helped to foster tolerance, and loosen the grip of xenophobia. They have become friends, neighbours and work colleagues.
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This is starkly at odds with anti-immigration rhetoric – that refugees and immigrants are taking “our” jobs, that they don’t fit in with our society.
The truth is that our great nation is a tapestry formed from immigration.
Whether it be the early settlers, those chasing fortunes during the gold rush or building our infrastructure after the Second World War, migrants from around the world have sought out a new, better future on our shores. Some fled from war and tyranny. Others just wanted a better life than the one they left behind.
We as a nation have reaped the rewards, our culture made richer by the diversity that our many ethnicities bring. We are one and many at the same time.
Chinese immigrants arrived early in Bendigo’s timeline, stayed, set up businesses and nearly 200 years later are a key part of the city’s history. The Karens are the latest chapter in this history.
The Regional Australia Institute, in a report last year, indicated that the survival of regional Australian towns hinged on them bringing in more immgrants with aspirations to put down roots.
The Karens in Bendigo are proof that this strategy can work.
Juanita Greville
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