Refugee and migrant communities in Aotearoa have faced a unique set of challenges during Covid-19. Urban Vision, an Anglican Mission Order, have seen some of these challenges first-hand. “UV teams have noticed that children from migrant backgrounds were less likely to connect with schools over lockdown due to a lack of access to technology” said Rebecca Apperley. She also notes that many families are heavily reliant on face-to-face business services such as post offices and banks. In some cases, Urban Vision teams were receiving cash and copies of household bills to pay them online. 

Alongside this, Jake Smythe - the Volunteer Programme Lead from Red Cross - saw first-hand a number of mental health challenges that refugee background families faced as this national crisis carried echoes of the instability many had fled from to arrive in Aotearoa. “Any former refugee has experienced forced displacement, stress or trauma. This means some have a very good ability to bounce back from crises, and to work very well under periods of stress.” However, Jake also noted that this time was harder for others. “Many have lingering trauma from their past which can arise in these moments. We saw many people do extraordinarily well because of their lived experience of stressful experiences, and on the other hand we also saw a marked rise in people needing support for mental health and distress that they had experienced before.” 

In the same way that Urban Vision have, the Red Cross were able to offer practical help to some of the daily struggles of disconnection that come for those learning English as a second language. “Some of our volunteers were reading bedtime stories to children over zoom, and others were helping them with their homework.” Jake saw what many of us have noticed over the past few months, that this moment has brought out some beautiful glimpses of generous and shared humanity. 

Jake also pointed out the unique difficulty of refugee background families accessing good information. “Many families struggled to understand the new rules that the government was issuing. In this situation, it was key that the messaging the government was giving about Covid-19 was then relayed by a volunteer they trusted and had relationship with.” The Red Cross worked daily with families to ensure that they were receiving accurate information that would assuage fears and help communities to live within Ministry of Health guidelines. “Even if you were fully literate in English, it was hard to know what was going on sometimes. Our volunteers were crucial in translating a complex situation to families.”

Anglican Movement asked Jake what the best thing is for individuals to do to support refugee background families at the moment. “In the end, it’s about attitudes and behaviours. Like the government told us, ‘be kind’ and make generous and compassionate assumptions about those making a home in Aotearoa during such a difficult time.”

While the Wellington Diocese has been unable to do our usual work collecting household items to help families settle, our Refugee Resettlement Co-ordinator Patricia Cooper has a specific request at the moment. A former-refugee family of 7 has recently lost their accomodation. If you are able to help with this urgent need please get in touch with patricia@anglicanmovement.nz Christian World Service has also produced a number of worship resources and powerpoint materials for the upcoming ‘Refugee Sunday’ on July the 5th. These can be found here.

By Scottie Reeve