Highlights
- The Vietnamese community continues to donate money to help Ukrainian refugees.
- The community is also supporting flood victims in NSW and Queensland.
- In another campaign, funds have been raised for Afghan refugees
In the early hours of a cold Wednesday morning last week, Thich Quang Ba, the Abbott of Van Hanh Monastery, Canberra, left his temple for a road trip to the UNHCR's office in Sydney.
He brought with him a cheque for $15,000 collected from the Vietnamese Buddhist members of the temple to help the people of Ukraine.
"After four weeks of raising money for Ukraine inside Van Hanh temple, from our volunteers and Buddhist community members, we collected $25,000,” Mr Quang Ba said.
“We decided to donate $10,000 to Rotary International for the people of Ukraine and the remainder to the UNHCR.”
Mr Quang Ba, the Founding Manager of the Australia Buddhist Relief Fund in Canberra, was joined in Sydney by delegates from at least five other Vietnamese Buddhist temples in Victoria and New South Wales.
During the one-hour meeting, Trudi Mitchell, the UNHCR's Deputy National Director of Australia, and others welcomed and received the donation cheques from Vietnamese Buddhist delegates, totalling $21,000.
The Vietnamese community delegates shared their stories of Vietnamese “boat people” who arrived in Australia as refugees in the aftermath of the Vietnam War from the mid-1970s.
"The Australian-Vietnamese community has supported refugees over many years. We are deeply grateful that the community has stepped up again -- this time to support the people of Ukraine,” Ms Mitchell said.
Vietnamese refugees arriving in Darwin Harbour in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. At the time, the refugees were referred to as "boat people". Source: Northern Territory Archives Service
UNHCR can provide life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable people because of this kind of generosity.
At the handover of the donation, UNHCR officials including Dr Nai Jit Lam, Deputy Chief of the UNHCR Multinational Office for Australia/NZ, and representatives of a dozen more island nations on the Ocean Pacific, thanked the Vietnamese community.
Dr Lam organised the meeting between the Vietnamese Buddhist community and the UNHCR.
Australia for UNHCR is part of the Emergency Action Alliance, a network of 15 Australian-based charities currently raising funds for the Ukraine emergency.
Meanwhile, UNHCR is working with its humanitarian partners to provide urgent protection and aid for those forced to flee, both within Ukraine and into neighbouring countries such as Poland and Moldova.
Australia for UNHCR is also coordinating an appeal for the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
The Vietnamese community in Queensland recently sent Australia for UNHCR a cheque for $22,500 to support Afghan refugees, and they’re now also raising money for Ukraine, according to Dr Bui Trong Cuong, President of the Vietnamese community, Queensland chapter.
"At the end of 2021, when the Americans decided to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, I understood the hurt and devastation being experienced by Afghan refugees, especially women and children,” Dr Cuong said.
Dr Cuong is a Vietnamese refugee who came to Australia 47 years ago, arriving just 17 days after the end of the Vietnam war on April 30, 1975.
At the time, the Australian media and others commonly referred to Vietnamese refugees as "boat people" due to around 2000 refugees arriving by sea in unauthorised vessels in the five years from 1976.
In actual fact, only around five per cent of Vietnamese refugees who were accepted into Australia had arrived by boat as at 1981 with the remainder arriving by plane as part of legal re-settlement schemes.
During the 1980s, Dr Cuong said he contributed his time and effort to helping Vietnamese “boat people” in refugee camps in Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia to settle in Australia.
Dr Cuong was recently made a member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his considerable efforts as a refugee advocate.
He spearheads fundraising for other causes too.
“During the flooding disaster which devastated parts of Queensland and NSW, we continued to raise the money for flood victims,” he said.
“In just two weeks, we collected $20,000 and are still open to donations. Once the appeal finishes in May, we will donate the proceeds to the Salvation Army.”
Dr Cuong said separate fundraising for Ukrainian refuges was ongoing with the proceeds destined for Caritas Australia.
Share
