Australian Society for Palestinian Iraqi Refugees Emergency

The Australian Society for Palestinian Iraqi Refugees Emergency Limited (ASPIRE) is an Australian not for profit company aimed at improving the lives of refugees. It was initiated in September 2007 by University of Melbourne lecturer and founder/presenter of ‘Palestine Remembered’ on 3CR Melbourne, Mr. Yousef Alreemawi who acts as one of the Directors of the company.
This initiative was developed in Australia with the support of a group of citizens disheartened by the conditions of the stateless Palestinian Iraqi refugees. They include volunteers from the Australian and Arab community, including academics, lawyers, students, musicians, business people and other concerned members of civil society.
ASPIRE became registered as a public not for profit company limited by guarantee on 26 October 2011 with the support of Maria Nelson.
Mission
The mission of ASPIRE is to provide the Palestinian Iraqi refugees with:
* Language and legal support that the stateless Palestinian Iraqis require to apply for resettlement in Australia through the legal channels;
* Financial and advocacy support to stateless Palestinian Iraqis to improve their living conditions in refugee camps and in transit to seeking asylum;
* Community and post-placement support to assist the refugees who were granted humanitarian protection by the Australian government to assimilate in Australia.
ASPIRE collaborates with international organisations, namely Amnesty International Australia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Canberra, Kuala Lumpur, Damascus and Amman. Additionally, ASPIRE works with local politicians and governments, community organisations and refugee support groups.
Backed with the support of Amnesty International Australia through its refugee coordinator; Dr. Graham Thom, ASPIRE lodged in February 2009 the applications of 16 stateless Palestinian families for humanitarian protection in Australia. In November 2009, Australia granted all of the 16 families (68 individuals) humanitarian protection.
In coordination with AMES, post-placement support was provided mostly by two members of the Palestinian community of Melbourne, Wesam Taleb and Mutamid Ayyash, along with Sivan Barak and Noga Nicholson; two Israeli peace activists living in Melbourne. These four members of ASPIRE worked together to assist the five families with all they needed to start their new lives in Australia. This included airport pick-up; orientation around the area; familiarisation of government services; help with sourcing furniture and moving into suitable long-term accommodation; among others.
In February 2010, Yousef visited Al-Hol refugee camp on the Iraq-Syria border in solidarity with the families still living in the camps. This visit marked the beginning of phase two of the project. For the next ten months, ASPIRE members worked to prepare the applications and documents for more stateless Palestinian families of Al-Hol to resettle to Australia. After lodging the applications in December 2010, only a limited number of families reached the final stage of approval. Despite the fact that all families were proven to be genuine refugees and held UNHCR certificates of protection and resettlement, majority of families were rejected due to Australian government quota restrictions. The number of families who reached the final stages of approval, however are still waiting amidst worsening living condition due to the political unrest in Syria.
Awards
*Refugees Award in June 2011 from the City of Whittlesea;
* Achievers Award” in April 2011 from the Palestinian Community Association in Victoria.

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