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Emotional welcome for Syrian refugees in Dunedin

Author
Matiu Workman,
Publish Date
Fri, 22 Apr 2016, 6:27AM
The Syrian families arrive at Dunedin airport (Supplied)
The Syrian families arrive at Dunedin airport (Supplied)

Emotional welcome for Syrian refugees in Dunedin

Author
Matiu Workman,
Publish Date
Fri, 22 Apr 2016, 6:27AM

UPDATED 5.39PM: An emotional arrival this morning for a group of Syrian families who are to make Dunedin their home.

Thirteen families - a total of 64 people - were greeted by a cacophony of applause and cheers from Red Cross volunteers and members of the local community.

The formal ceremony took place at the Maungatua Room at Dunedin Airport, where they were welcomed with mihi and speeches from members of the local community.

A representative of the Syrian group, Walid Abdel-Aziz, speaking through a translator, thanked everybody for their generosity, and said he was speechless at the emotional welcoming.

"We heard Dunedin is a beautiful place and we just want to stay here and live in peace with you," he said. 

"The first day I arrived here I felt that I [was] born again, and I am feeling that this is a different world."

Arriving in Dunedin is bittersweet for Wafaa al-Ashram and her 13-year-old son Ahmed.

She lived in Lebanon for two years, with the process around her journey to New Zealand taking a year.

Speaking through a translator, al-Ashram said she had to leave her 16-year-old son in Syria.

"She couldn't let him come with her because maybe they would take him.

Al-Ashram said she has mixed emotions, but overall she is happy to be in Dunedin and is ready to settle into her new life.

Red Cross spokeswoman Hanna Butler said earlier that it was a special day for Dunedin.

"We've got 13 Syrian families arriving today. The first to be resettled in the city since it was chosen as the new location last year."

Butler said they've been overwhelmed by the support they've received.

"We've had 400 volunteer applications. Everyday at the office in Dunedin items have been dropped off. Today food has been dropped off, blankets have been dropped off."

She said the families arrive no longer as refugees.

"Technically once you arrive in Dunedin you're no longer a refugee. You're a new Kiwi or a New Zealand resident or just a person like you and I. People have sought refugee so they are no longer refugees."

The next group of Syrians are expected to arrive in Dunedin in June.

750 Syrians will be coming to New Zealand over the next two and a half years, in addition to the current intake of 750 refugees per year.

New Zealand Red Cross secretary general Tony Paine believes the annual quota of 750 should increase.

"The New Zealand Red Cross thinks we could do more and we do think that, as you've seen today, there's a huge amount of community support and interest which could make that possible, so yes, we think we could do more."

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