Ramesh Kumar, an Indian-Australian helping refugees in Australia

A former IAS officer is now playing an important role in changing refugee lives in Australia

Source: AMES Australia

Before arriving in Australia as an immigrant, Ramesh Kumar worked as an IAS Officer in Mumbai. As part of CIDCO, Kumar played an important role in building social infrastructure in Navi Mumbai.

“My role was to build a social community space for people arriving from different parts of India to settle down in Navi Mumbai. I ensured that we built community spaces and number of women groups to support the social cohesion in a newly-developed city,” Kumar told SBS Hindi.

Now 21 years later, Kumar continues to play that role of building social cohesion in the society. Since his arrival in Melbourne in 1995, Kumar has been working in the social sector and has witnessed the transition of Australian society which has seen a significant influx of refugees and migrants.

Kumar is currently a General Manager at AMES Australia where he is responsible for implementing the organisation’s social participation and volunteer strategies including oversight of the Multicultural Hub, Volunteer Management, Social Enterprises, Community Engagement and Participation.

Each year, AMES Australia assists over 40,000 people by providing humanitarian settlement, education, training and employment services for refugees and newly arrived migrants.

Speaking at the Settlement Council of Australia’s Conference - Settlement and Citizenship in Civil Society, in Melbourne last week, Kumar told a houseful audience of over 400 delegates that the need of the hour is ‘to accept the incoming refugees’.

“We need to remember that they are humans, just like us. So if you have a neighbour, a colleague or your child’s classmate is a refugee, the least you can do is accept them," he said.