Multicultural dancers, musicians and poets performed at a Refugee Week celebration in Broadmeadows on Wednesday.
Hume council hosted the event at the Hume Global Learning Centre, which also included an expo showcasing programs and services available to refugees and asylum seekers who live in the area.
The day included a cultural lunch and a concert featuring Sri Lankan dancers from the Lakdaruwo Cultural Dance Group, Yusupha Ngum and the Affia Band, Assyrian dance, Iraqi music, Arabic songs and poetry, African drumming and a didgeridoo performance.
Performers from Outer Urban Projects, a company which creates contemporary performances based on the lives of youth from Melbourne’s outer north, also participated.
Organisations including Spectrum, Uniting Lentara, the Migrant Resource Centre North West Region, Victoria Police, Arabic Welfare, the Brotherhood of St Laurence, AMES Australia, Dallas Neighbourhood House 3047 and the Northern Community Legal Centre hosted stalls at the event
Hume mayor Geoff Porter said it was important for asylum seekers and families to be able to build networks with community groups and organisations. “We are proud to be one of the first local government authorities in Australia to become a ‘Welcoming City’ and to support new arrivals to Hume City, which has one of the highest rates of refugee settlement in Victoria,” Cr Porter said.
According to the state government, more than 3000 refugees have settled in Hume since June 2016.
