Finding safety, stability and hope after conflict

Days turned into weeks as the shelling drew closer. During this time, Samar lost her husband, the home they shared and the life they had built together.

“The war changed our entire life as a whole family,” says Samar. “The work and the house and the life and the father – everything in an instant. Suddenly all of this goes away, not just part of it or something, it all goes away.”

After months sheltering in a besieged area, often sharing a home with up to 65 people, Samar fled Gaza for Egypt with her children. In August 2024, they arrived in Perth. For the first time in years, they felt safe. But the future they faced was full of uncertainty.

Like many newly arrived families, Samar was navigating an unfamiliar system while carrying the weight of loss, grief and displacement, as well as the responsibility of caring for her young children as a single mother.

“When I am the father and the mother and everything, and I have four children under 18 years old. I don’t have the language and I don’t have money. And I don’t know what I should do or what to think,” she says.

Help when it matters most

It was at a support group for women in Perth that Samar heard about the emergency financial support Australian Red Cross offers to refugees and migrants facing extreme vulnerability. Samar applied soon after, and the money she received helped her to pay bills, buy groceries and send her children to school.

“It was a relief to my financial pressure as I was able to pay my rent with the money,” she says. “It helped me settle in the new environment. We felt supported.”

That help made a difference in a critical moment. But Samar still needed support to continue rebuilding her and her family’s life.

Soon after, she was reconnected with Australian Red Cross through the government-supported Humanitarian Settlement Program (HSP).

“They contacted me… and they told me what the steps were. What procedures we can do with you.”

From the moment people arrive in Australia through to the point they can navigate life on their own, Australian Red Cross provides specialist support that meets migrants where they are. Through the Humanitarian Settlement Program, Samar received tailored, practical support shaped around her family’s needs from a caring case worker who could speak her own language, which helped Samar to feel more comfortable at an overwhelming time.

“At the beginning it was helpful, when you meet someone who speaks Arabic. I mean, I could communicate with them.”

“The doctor, assistance with translation for all matters. Doctor’s appointments. Children, schools, they help us with them… Support if you need anything for the house, furniture for the house.”

From emergency support to building independence

For Aatef, a Humanitarian Settlement Program support worker with Australian Red Cross, this early support is essential.

Once families are settled in their new homes, those first few weeks are spent helping them navigate essential services. “Centrelink, health, appointments, local transportation and orientation,” explains Aatef.

More than just meeting immediate needs, the program is designed to help build the foundations for long-term independence. The impact is profound: 86 percent of families from conflict zones supported through the Humanitarian Settlement Program report improved overall life satisfaction*.

Aatef knows this firsthand. He grew up in Syria but fled to Iraq with his family when conflict became too dangerous, later arriving in Australia.

“I was a client with the Red Cross Humanitarian Settlement Program when I arrived… it was about two or three years ago that they supported me with the essential services, me and my family. Then after I graduated from the program, I volunteered with Australian Red Cross… After that, I find a way to work as a support worker with Australian Red Cross.”

Today, he supports others at the very beginning of that same journey. “The main goal is to build the capacity for the clients… to know how to manage their life… so when they are not with Australian Red Cross, they can continue.”

A future bright with hope

For Samar, that journey has taken time. "It was hard… it took effort from me, maybe a whole year until my children were able to settle psychologically and socially at home and at school. Especially since I'm single with the children, something like this creates anxiety for you to provide the rent, provide the basic matters, schools, things like this.”

But gradually, with the right support, a new sense of stability has begun to take hold. “We can say we've reached 40 or 50 per cent of stability,” says Samar. Despite everything she’s been through, the love she has for her four children continues to give her strength. “You have to continue and you have to be strong in this world... one must continue and not stop because there are kids behind you.”

Today, Samar is looking ahead towards rebuilding her career and creating a safe and secure future for her children. “I’d love it if I get the opportunity to improve my English… to complete a course in the Montessori field as a teacher,” she says with a hopeful smile.

“There’s a goal in front of you and you want to start again because you must have ambition from within.”