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The South Eastern Region Migrant Resource Centre (SERMRC) Youth Services Team provides a range of settlement services for refugees and humanitarian entrants aged 12 - 25 who have been in Australia for between 6 months and 5 years.
The Youth Services Team also provides support and professional development training to schools, service providers and others working with refugee young people.
The following links may assist you to improve your understanding of common aspects of the refugee experience and strategies and resources for working with refugee young people. These resources focus on the Afghan and Sudanese communities.
This list is designed to be a starting point. If you would like to suggest or request additional information, kindly contact:
Kate Jackson, Youth Services Team Leader, SERMRC on (03) 97068933 or katej@sermrc.org.au
Phill Start, Multicultural Youth Programs Officer, City of Casey on (03) 9705 5622, (03) 9705 5200 or 0407 360 566 or pstart@casey.vic.gov.au
Service Providers, Community Organisations and Government Departments
Multicultural Youth Action Group (MYAG)
MYAG has been established to identify current issues that face migrant and refugee youth in the south eastern region of metropolitan Melbourne. The network aims to implement realistic strategies by generating programs and actions through the current service providers in the region. MYAG meets on the first Tuesday of every month from 11 - 12.30pm at the SERMRC. For more info, please contact Kate Jackson, Youth Services Team Leader, SERMRC on (03) 9706 8933 or katej@sermrc.org.au
Community Profiles and Case Studies
'Sudanese in south east Melbourne: perspectives of a new and emerging community'. Hardcopy available to order online here from the SERMRC.
School's In for Refugees - Whole-School Guide to Refugee Readiness (Foundation House)
For more information on the Afghan and Sudanese communities both in Australia and overseas...
Books and Films
Osama (2003) - directed by Siddiq Barmak.
Highly acclaimed film about a 12 year old girl's life under the cruel Taliban regime.
The Boy who plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan (2004) - directed by Phil Grabsky
Documentary which chronicles one year in the life of 8 year old Mir, who lives with his family as internally displaced people in the caves surrounding the place where the historic Buddhas of Bamiyan stood, prior to their destruction by the Taliban.
The Kite Runner (2007) - directed by Mark Forster.
Film version of the international best-selling book of the same name - an excellent film (and book!) for anyone wanting to know more about life in Afghanistan. After years of exile in America, Amir returns to his homeland to right an old wrong.
The Lost Boys of Sudan (2003)- directed by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk.
Award winning documentary focuses on Santino and Peter, members of the Dinka tribe, during their first life altering year in the United States. Safe at last from physical danger - but a world away from home - the boys must grapple with extreme cultural differences as they come to understand both the abundance and alienation of contemporary American life.
Daughters of Sudan (2007)
A documentary profiling four young Sudanese women produced by the South Eastern Region Migrant Resource Centre.
Blood Diamond (2006) - directed by Edward Zwick.
This film exposes the atrocities committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone and the lives affected by the 'blood diamond' trade.
Kandahar (2001) - directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
The film is based on a story (partly true, partly fictionalized) of a successful Afghan-Canadian who returns to Afghanistan after receiving a letter from her sister, who was left behind when the family escaped, that she plans on committing suicide on the last solar eclipse of the millennium.
What is the What. By Dave Eggers.
Novelized autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, from his pre-war life in southern Sudan to his resettlement in the United States.
The day I became a woman - directed by Marzieh Meshkini.
The story of women at three stages of life in Iran.
Stray Dogs - directed by Marzieh Meshkini.
The story of two children in post-Taliban Afghanistan.
Dark Dreams. Edited by Dechain, Miller and Sallis.
Short stories by refugee young people now living in Australia.
From Under a Leaky Roof- Afghan Refugees in Australia. By Phil Sparrow.
Based on interviews with refugees and the people who work with them the book details common experiences of discrimination and persecution which led them to flee their homes, the despair of detention in Australia and the fear and uncertainty when they try to start their new lives in the Australian community.
International Organisations
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