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Ba Ham Family Reunification Group

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We are a committee of volunteers (details below) who have come together to support and coordinate the resettlement of a vulnerable and persecuted Hazara family from Afghanistan. The Hazara are an ethnic group in Afghanistan that has been especially targeted for persecution by the Taliban. This family of 5, three teenage girls, mom and dad are travelling to Ireland to join their other daughter who has lived in Ireland since 2021. They will require considerable funds hence the GoFundMe page.

Background
Three years ago a group of young women fleeing the Taliban arrived in Dublin supported by Friends of Ascend, a community-based resettlement support group in Dublin. These girls and young women were part of a Kabul based NGO programme, Ascend Athletics , training young women in leadership skills, principally through mountaineering (www.ascendathletics.org). In August 2021 they were considered targets of the newly returned Taliban regime. The youngest of these girls, aged 16, settled in our community in Dun Laoghaire and will sit the Leaving Cert this June.

For almost 3 years she has worked to have her family join her here.

Her family have at last, as part of the Irish Government's Family Reunification Programme, been given leave to join her this summer. This is a huge relief as her three younger sisters are locked out of education and any independent life. Among the many, many restrictions imposed since the return of the Taliban in August 2021 the education ban for all girls over 12 years of age is having a huge impact on this family. Education is highly valued. An older brother has a degree in physics and an older sister graduated as a nurse.

Ba Ham means “together” in Persian, and the Ba Ham Family Reunification Group is a small group of volunteers in the Dun Laoghaire area who have come together to support and coordinate the resettlement of this vulnerable family group. The family is made more vulnerable by the restrictions on who may travel. Only the three girls under 18 and the parents may travel to Ireland under the Family Reunification Programme. The older siblings with qualifications and English are not eligible to travel under this government scheme.

Funds
Based on evidence from previous family resettlements we know we need to raise a minimum of €20,000 to resettle this family effectively. The funds will support the family’s integration into Ireland during their first two years of living here. These costs include housing, food, and basic expenses until they can access welfare support that they will be entitled to as Programme Refugees. Funds raised will also help pay for critical services like English language training, health expenses, educational support, etc.

In addition to fundraising the Ba Ham Family Reunification group will seek accommodation; support access to education, employment and health services; introduce them to local community amenities and services and connect to local social networks.

The Ba Ham Family Reunification Group is not a Charity. Our structure is more informal than a charity and we have a single designated beneficiary for our project, the re-settlement of one particular family. We are advised and supported by Friends of Ascend, Dublin. Our Committee members are Christine Magee (Chair), Peter Crowley ( Treasurer). Oonah McCrann, Sinead Hanly, Anne Marie McGrath and Mairead De Barra.



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Organizer

Christine Magee
Organizer

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