Refugee Airfare Loans Scheme
WHEN A PLANE TICKET REALLY MEANS A NEW LIFE…
RALS (Refugee Airfare Loans Scheme) was started by the Baptist Union of Victoria in response to the growing need of refugees in offshore refugee camps to fund their own airfares to come to Australia . Most sponsors, themselves ex-refugees and recent arrivals to Australia, lack the financial means to raise or borrow the funds needed for the airfares to reunite their families here. The refugees RALS support are mostly from South Sudan as well as Liberia, and the Chin & Karen ethnic community in Burma.
Many refugees have experienced unimaginable horrors as they as they endured the tragedies of war, displacement and years of waiting in refugee camps. The delight at finally being granted a visa to enter Australia is often overshadowed by the pressure to come up with the fees for the airfare. If the cost of the airfares is not met promptly, they will need to go through the very long and expensive visa application process again and the opportunity could be lost.
 
RALS provides interest-free loans of up to 90% of the total airfare cost.
All loan repayments go back into a revolving pool of funds to be available to support the next refugee.
|
