Immigration issues SBS News

There are people who show incredible resilience under the most difficult circumstances and Hedayat Osyan is one of them. The 32 year-old fled Afghanistan 15 years ago and has since built a thriving business helping others. Now he's been honoured with the UNHCR Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition.

For many refugees, starting life in a new country can be overwhelming but a supportive community can help navigate the many challenges. That's the idea behind an innovative pilot program which recruits small groups of volunteers to help and mentor refugees for 12 months after arrival. Now there are calls to expand the program to make it easier for Australians to sponsor family members or refugees they already know.

As Muslims get ready to celebrate the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, cultural delicacies are being prepared by a diverse range of food businesses. Among them, several new ventures given a helping hand by a unique a social enterprise.

In Melbourne's outer west, a free basketball clinic has been tapping into the potential of the young African community. The program is aimed at getting children active and engaged, coming from an area with a high migrant and refugee population.

An initiative offering free swimming lessons in some of Australia's diverse communities is hoping to address a critical gap in water skills and safety. The move comes as migrants continue to be over-represented in Australia's drowning statistics.

There are about 9,000 asylum seekers who arrived in Australia over a decade ago and who remain caught in a Coalition-era system designed to 'fast-track' their claims. Thousands of them were children when they first came to Australia; they're now young adults with restrictive six-month bridging visas, living with the fear they could be deported from the country they now call home. A group of crossbenchers and refugee advocates is demanding the Immigration Minister end the decade-long delay and offer these migrants permanent status.