New Australians feel abandoned as they battle social isolation, struggle to find employment
- jamessnow321
- Oct 16, 2019
- 1 min read
Anas Barbaree was a qualified pharmacist working overseas, but has never been able to work in Australia in his chosen field. He's not alone, with refugees and migrants facing significant barriers to skilled employment.
Social isolation among new Australians is so severe that some are asking how to return to refugee camps, and some live without necessities like power, a South-East Queensland refugee and migrant service has warned.
Mr Barbaree fled war-torn Iraq with his family when Islamic State militants invaded the city of Mosul in 2014.
"Christians, Shia Muslims, Yazidis had to leave the city — or we had three options — be killed, pay tribute, or convert to Islam," he said.
"We had to leave everything behind, and we were searched at checkpoints for valuables like mobile phones."
At the time, the 31-year-old had been working as a pharmacist at a government-run hospital in Makhmou, Iraq, as part of his two-year regional placement after he completed a Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science.
Mr Barbaree, his wife Maryam and their first-born daughter Maram were among 12,000 asylum seekers granted visas in Australia under a special humanitarian intake of Syrians and Iraqis, fleeing terrorism and civil war.
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