Australia's Afghan obligation and opportunity

Watching the US and their allies exit Afghanistan cause a mad desperate scramble for evacuation has brought memories of Saigon in 1975 crashing back for my mother and other Vietnamese people old enough to remember.

The world watched with great sadness yesterday as suicide bombers caused mass casualties of families and children seeking evacuation. Thankfully, the exit from Saigon was somewhat safer, but there are echoes from history in what is unfolding in Kabul right now.

In particular, the deep fear of retaliation from those who supported Western Allies driving the panic and desperation to flee. Then it was the Vietcong, now it is the Taliban. I was only four years old when the Vietnam war ended. Over the next three years, my family planned their escape from Vietnam, culminating in a long and dangerous trek from Saigon to the countryside and then onto a fishing boat in 1978. (The 6 year old boy sitting next to the pole is me with my two sisters in the second row. My youngest brother is still a baby in my mother's arms not in photo).

I can vividly recall the fear of being caught and the sense of terror in my parents as we approached different check points. No doubt millions of Afghan children and parents are feeling the same right now.

The first evacuees from Vietnam were orphans as part of Operation Babylift with over 3,000 infants flown to the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Between that operation and 1982, Australia accepted close to 60,000 Vietnamese refugees.

Our family arrived in Melbourne in October 1978 and with the support of the government settlement services program, we were transported to Eastbridge hostel in Nunawading and provided with safety, shelter and food. 

Within three months, my parents had found factory jobs and we moved to Ringwood where my siblings and I went to school and grew up. My sisters and I are now in business and my younger brother a barrister.

Amongst my extended family of cousins in Australia, there are IT specialists, accountants, bankers and of course a restaurant owner serving pho and banh mi. Other cousins that escaped to Germany are doctors whilst those that went to the US are business owners and in technology.

Whilst some may say that our family has achieved against the odds, this is the typical story of so many other refugee families.

The combination of determination, gratitude and ambition of refugees, nurtured by an effective settlement program creates a powerful foundation for the rebuilding of lives and a desire to contribute back to the host country.

A brief scan of articles about refugee experience in Australia, the US, Canada and other countries shows the enormous economic, social and cultural benefits that have been and continue to be delivered.

Which brings me back to the current tragedy that is unfolding in Afghanistan. Whilst the Australian government is working desperately hard – in incredibly difficult circumstances – on evacuating those in immediate danger in the coming days and weeks; the need to provide asylum and humanitarian protection will be ongoing for months and years to come. 

This is both an obligation for Australia given our participation in the war, but also a great opportunity.

Australia is as well placed as any of its Western allies to take on a substantial number of Afghan refugees and certainly better placed than it was in 1975, given the development of the settlement services capacity now in place.

It is this capacity that has allowed Australia to resettle the third highest number of UNHCR refugees in the past 10 years (behind the US and Canada) including the 12,000 refugees from Syria and Iraq in 2012 that were resettled in addition to the humanitarian program quota.

Despite that capacity, Australia continues to look for ways to improve its programs – current initiatives include improving settlement into regional areas, accelerating functional English, community sponsorship of refugees and increasing economic participation through jobs, small business and social enterprises.

These initiatives will fast track refugees to be economically independent and more socially integrated. An example is my own organisation Thrive Refugee Enterprise which facilitates refugees into starting and growing their own small businesses.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows humanitarian visa holders are indeed more entrepreneurial than other migrant types or those born in Australia with almost 30 per cent of refugees starting a business post arrival. The Hazara Afghans have been a celebrated example in South Australia.

So the ongoing improvement in core programs, new innovation and growing overall capacity means that Australia is well placed to resettle a refugees from Afghanistan as we did after Vietnam.

The Prime Minister has committed to a minimum of 3,000 and willingness to increase if the need arises. The Refugee Council, Save the Children Australia and many other Australian humanitarian organisations have been calling for 20,000 new places above the current intake.

Whatever the final number we ultimately resettle, Australians should be comforted by the fact that we have the capacity to manage it effectively.

The investment Australia makes in resettling these Afghan refugees is not only appropriate in meeting our humanitarian obligations, but also a great opportunity as the investment will generate a positive return many times over in the coming years and decades.   

As the past 40 years of refugees from post war Vietnam have clearly shown (and indeed all refugees going back 100 years), the ambition and determination to show gratitude and contribute to the growth of the adopted country is deep and boundless.

So if the government ultimately decide to raise the intake well above the 3000 minimum, they and Australia should feel assured that we have the capacity to ensure it will be a great investment.

Out of the rubble of the Vietnam war, my family and I have had a life changing opportunity to rebuild our lives in Australia, become very proud Australians and contribute back.

Given the circumstances in Afghanistan appear even more desperate and dangerous than post war Vietnam, I hope as many Afghan children as possible get the same opportunity in the months and years ahead.

Huy Truong came to Australia as a refugee from Vietnam in 1978. He is the CEO of the ALI Group, Executive Chairman and Co-founder Thrive Refugee Enterprise and a Member of the Refugee and Migrant Settlement Advisory Council to the Federal Immigration Minister