We do a lot with a little. Help us to house and support asylum seekers and refugees in the Australian community.
URGENT Low cost or free secondhand car required. Lawnmowers appreciated too! – Please contact Libby 0418 526 036
Asylum seekers put their hands up to fill labour shortage in regional Victoria
Just a few months ago, Mizamu Mahari could not have imagined he would be living on a farm two hours from Melbourne, gingerly stepping into a saddle on a horse. "To be honest, it's not like the city," he said. The 28 year-old electrical specialist from Ethiopia is one...
This is my eighth Christmas locked up in immigration detention. Next year I hope to celebrate as a free man.
I am writing to make people aware of the difficult situation refugees have to endure. Mardin Arvin in immigration detention in Melbourne: ‘On 17 December I was forcibly transferred to another prison – from incarceration in the Mantra Bell City hotel to the Park Hotel...
New graduate seeks work
A young woman known to BASP since she arrived in Melbourne has just completed a degree in Biomedical Science. She has academically excelled. She arrived in Australia seeking asylum when she was 15 years old and is now looking for work in a science/medical related...
You can help
- provide hospitality and practical support for people seeking asylum
- actively network with like-minded individuals and groups who are working for justice for asylum seekers
- promote advocacy for the rights of people seeking asylum
- engage in education about asylum seekers’ issues
- donate or volunteer
About BASP
Staff
Brigid Arthur csb, Project Coordinator, is a Brigidine Sister with a long and passionate career as an educator. She has been described as ‘an octogenarian human rights advocate, protester and leader.’
(csb = Congregation of Sisters of Brigid)
Libby Saunders, Project Coordinator, is an experienced social worker who worked in disability and community care before joining BASP in 2014. Libby is mainly involved with housing and volunteers.
Volunteers, kindly support our everyday work with an extraordinary range of expertise and experience.
Aims
The Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project (BASP) is a Melbourne-based initiative of the Brigidine Sisters which aims to:
- Provide hospitality and practical support for people seeking asylum;
- Actively network with like-minded individuals and groups who are working for justice for asylum seekers;
- Promote advocacy for the rights of people seeking asylum;
- Engage in education about asylum seekers’ issues.
Volunteer
We have many volunteer opportunities e.g. volunteer for our Friendship through teaching English program, providing friendship and support to an asylum seeker family along with personalised assistance in everyday English. Help families settle in their Australian community by exploring local facilities and services together. Volunteers work in pairs, visiting an assigned family once a week for about an hour. Please contact us to help.
Be informed about asylum seekers in Australia
Authorised Travellers
Contrary to the images sometimes projected by government and the media, most asylum seekers arrive in Australia by air as authorised travellers.
Ordinary Human Beings
Asylum seekers are ordinary human beings with the same emotions and reactions that most of us would have in similar circumstances.
Persecution
They have been involved in persecution in their own countries that we find hard to imagine from the safety of this country.