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New Dehli is Australia's only immigration post in India, Nepal, and Bhutan, and they're
the three countries we have responsibility for.
In New Delhi, we have approximately 7 teams, we cover the full gamut of DIAC's visa
products through to refugee and humanitarian.
We do roughly 780 refugee and humanitarian visas a year, there are several camps around
the East side of Nepal where Bhutanese refugees have been living for about 20 years.
Our refugee work here in New Delhi really starts with preparing a mission up to Nepal, so
we do that be liaising with UNHCR and IOM in Kathmandu and Damak to get the times and
dates for the interviews and to identify the people we'll interview.
Then our local staff start preparing all the files for our staff.
That involves getting all the forms together that the refugees need to sign, getting the
interview questions ready and getting the files prepped.
After that we bring it all together, and off we head to Damak to start the interview
process.
So we've just arrived in Damak and we've come out here to the Beldengi refugee camp UNHCR
has organised for us today a briefing with some refugees who are in the resettlement
process to move to Australia.
It's great that before we start the interviews UNHCR has been able to organise this
informal information session, or question and answer session today because before we sit
down in an interview room with these families it gives them an opportunity to see us
first and put some questions to us about what the process is and what it's like to live
in Australia.
During the course of the week we'll be speaking with families like the ones here today
and learn a bit more about who they are, the stories of why they are living here in
Nepal, and understanding their refugee claims, but also gathering a lot of information
that will help our settlement service colleagues in Australia make sure that these people
arrive and settle well.
when they get to Australia.
I think one of the most important things about Australia's refugee and humanitarian
program is that it provides an ordered managed way for people who are the most vulnerable
to arrive in Australia and receive support services they need to help them start a new
life.
That they're arriving in conditions of safety, dignity, and with all the assistance they
need to make a new life in Australia.