Compassion Over Cruelty by the NSW Alliance For People Seeking Asylum

"The NSW Alliance For People Seeking Asylum is a group of four NSW based service providers working with people seeking asylum and refugees. The alliance has been working together over the last year to ensure services are coordinated to deliver the most effective response to people in need.

The four organisations include: the House of Welcome, the Asylum Seekers Centre, Jesuit Refugee Service and the Refugee Advice and Casework Service.

The Alliance has launched a chuffed.org. campaign to raise funds to ensure people affected by the recent Australian Government decision to remove the safe housing and living allowance from 100 people who have been held on Manus Island and Nauru and who are now living in the Australian community.

To date, in NSW, there are 20 people who have already had their living allowance removed and have never been given the right to work until right now. They were given 21 days to find a safe place to sleep and a job to support themselves, with no assistance.

In Victoria, the state government has pledged to support those affected. But, in NSW, this support is being left to be provided by these already stretched charity services.

The NSW Alliance for People Seeking Asylum - our combined 90 staff and 703 volunteers - are committed to ensuring that people have their basic needs met. But we need financial assistance to do this.

It will cost $93,000 to meet the immediate needs of the first 20 people affected for the next 6 months.

Your support will help provide:

• legal assistance
• casework
• safe housing
• basic food rations
• uncovered medical expenses
• a basic weekly living allowance.

We will work with our specialist volunteers in the medical, dental and legal fields to ensure each person affected receives specialist pro bono support.

Our initial target is to cover the first 20 people in NSW who are affected, but we hold grave fears for an additional 300 people in family groups living in Australia who are at the Federal Government’s whim, and are likely to need the same assistance very soon.

Thank you for your support - any thing goes a long way."

Learn more about the NSW Alliance for People Seeking Asylum and how you can support their much needed work on their crowdfunding campaign page: