IN A BID to break down community misinformation, one of the city's leading refugee advocacy bodies is calling a man who has argued migration cases all the way to the High Court of Australia.
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Lawyer Anthony Krohn, who has been a member of the refugee and migrant review tribunals, is set to be guest speaker for House of Welcome's Refugee Week luncheon.
Refugee on-shore processing issues have continued to bubble in the news the past week, ahead of Refugee Week.
House of Welcome's Carmel Kavanagh said the core issues confronting refugees to Australia tended to be ill-informed or not front of mind for many people.
And she found many people still thought refugees were overwhelmingly arriving by boat.
"Refugees can legally seek asylum in any country...They're often frightened, nervous, have no-one to talk to and have heard stories about Australia so they often don't know what they should say when they arrive - or what goes back to where they have fled," Ms Kavanagh said.
"[Mr Krohn] is going to speak on the difficulty in deciding refugee claims."
Ms Kavanagh said many people did not realise how many refugees were in Ballarat still struggling to gain appropriate visas or citizenship after years, even more than a decade, of applying. This was even when refugees had the chance to have jobs or be studying.
She said there was a general perception of a fast track-style system for many refugees when too often the process was incredibly slow.
Ms Kavanagh said the chance to hear from Mr Krohn could help to set facts straight and shine a light on refugee issues in the community.
Mr Krohn lives in Ballarat but is predominantly based in Melbourne for work.
He has extensive experience in refugee and migration cases in the Federal Circuit Court, the Federal Court, the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of Nauru.
Mr Krohn has also practised in the law of citizenship extradition, guardianship and mental health.
IN OTHER NEWS
House of Welcome is a refugee advocacy body with ties to Ballarat Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support Network and Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council.
Ms Kavanagh said their focus is on raising awareness and friendship for refugees. This work included food drives, furniture donations and collections for other needs while working closely with other community welfare agencies and church organisations.
She said support needs were diverse so the group aimed to help however they could.
Finding freedom is the theme for Refugee Week this year with the aim of promoting how a refugee's perilous journey was to find safety and freedom to live, to love and to dream.
House of Welcome's lunch featuring Mr Krohn is in the Uniting Church hall on Lydiard Street South, near Federation University's SMB campus, on Wednesday at 12.30pm. Book: annekav1234@gmail.com.
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