Welcome to Margaret River: Locals open doors to refugee family plan

Margaret River resident Catherine River is coordinating the Welcome to Margaret River group and hopes to welcome a refugee family to the area soon.

"I'm a member of the Amnesty International group here," Ms River said.

"Over the years, we have done a lot of events, petitions and demonstrations - we even interviewed Behrouz Boochani while he was on Manus Island.

"But it was really frustrating as it didn't lead to much in the way of results.

"This is a way to actually do something ourselves directly and help one family.

"It's a drop in the ocean, but it's a start."

The group has formed as part of the Australian Government's Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot (CRISP) which enables groups of everyday Australians to come together to welcome and support refugee families referred by the UNHCR.

The program aims to build a network of 2,000 Australians to support 1,500 new refugees over the duration of the pilot, from 2022 to 2025.

Locals form 'community supporter groups' which assist with greeting refugees at the airport, finding temporary and long-term accommodation, acquiring basic household items, navigating government services and integrating into the community for 12 months.

Lisa Button, chief executive officer of Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia, said the scale of the global refugee problem could be overwhelming.

"Modelled on the successful Canadian program that's helped 325,000 refugees settle over the past 20 years, the CRISP gives Australians a chance to do something practical and help tackle the refugee, challenge one family at a time," she said.

Twenty households have been settled since the CRISP program began, settling in city and rural locations from Adelaide and Bendigo to Brisbane, working in a variety of occupations.

Next week, the CRSA team will arrive in WA to connect with organisations and volunteers keen to get involved and the first refugees could arrive in WA in the next few months.

"It has been terrific seeing everyday Australians welcoming refugees across the country," says CRSA's Community Development Training Lead Shabnam Safa.

"It's transforming lives already, of host communities as well as refugees. We are looking forward to bringing this excitement to the WA community - this really is a life-changing opportunity to do something practical for refugees."

CRSA's Shabnam Safa and Blaise Itabelo will host a CRISP public information session at the Margaret River Uniting Church on Friday March 10 from 6pm.