Syrian family of six grateful for Border help to relocate to Lavington

Farham Alayed and Khaldieh Al Damous, who have lived in northern Lebanon for the past 12 years, patiently waited for assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees before getting help to settle in Lavington last week.

Murray Valley Sanctuary Refugee Group volunteer Helen Putland said the couple sought her group's help to bring their four children Rim, Fatemah, Malak and Khetam, aged four to seven, to a place of hope.

"The family fled Syria when the civil war started there - these people are Sunni Muslims and they knew they were in danger," Ms Putland said.

"They left together and went to Lebanon - I suppose they thought they could go back soon, but the situation just kept getting worse.

"They pleaded for refugee status with the UNHCR in Lebanon and that was granted. CRISP, the Community Refugee Integration and Support Pilot in Australia then helped us get them to Albury."

Ms Putland said her group was in a position to offer them support after they conducted a fundraiser to help get the family set up in Albury.

"We were able to ask for two families to come and these lovely people were part of that and it has worked out really well," she said. "Very soon they will be financially independent from us. We had to jump through a few hoops, but we've had people join our group just to help other people out, it's very worthwhile.

"When they flew in to Albury, the house here was all set up and ready to move in - they had very little when they came here."

Speaking through the group's interpreter, Soukaina Eddamnaty, Farham Alayed said he was immensely grateful to the Border community for helping them to start a new life and for the chance for their children to get an education which wasn't possible in Lebanon.

"We are so glad to be here, it is a beautiful area - we haven't seen very much yet, but are looking forward to exploring," he said.

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"I used to drive trucks in Syria and I'd like to be able to do that again. My family is very happy here - we're not in a hurry to go to a big city, we've only been here for a short time but we're very comfortable here.

"We really want our children to get a good education - we haven't had that opportunity in Lebanon, we couldn't afford it, but we have a chance now."

He said he and his wife still have family living in their homeland and in Lebanon and hoped they might get the same opportunity to make a fresh start.

"Khaldieh has two sisters still living in Syria and I have some cousins still there but most of our family are living in Lebanon at the moment," he said.

"There are still lots of people escaping from Syria to live in Lebanon but sadly a lot of people have died trying to move there.

"It's such a sad situation - we are so lucky to be away from all the conflict and we are so happy to be here.

"We have had so much help - new friends Perri and Fred helped us move some beds on Friday and there have been plenty of other people helping us too."

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