(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
A small rural Australian community is thriving after welcoming over 150 ethnic minority Karen refugees from Myanmar.
Dozens of new jobs have been created, services extended, and student numbers boosted - adding $40 million to the town's economy.
Phillippa Carisbrooke reports.
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Roughly half way between Adelaide and Melbourne lies the Victorian country town of Nhill.
It's population is approximately 2,200.
Six years ago unemployment was very low, at less than two per cent.
Companies wanting to expand had to find new workers.
Hearing about the plight of Karen refugees, local man John Millington wondered if some living in Australia might be encouraged to start new lives in Nhill.
At that time he was general manager at poultry producer Luv a Duck.
He had experience employing skilled staff on 457 visas, and knew that to attract workers the town would need to offer something for the whole family.
Armed with a Powerpoint presentation, Mr Millington and his wife travelled to the Melbourne suburb of Werribee to meet a gathering of Karen refugees looking for new opportunities.
"About a month after that we invited them to come up just to see for themselves what the town was all about. We invited most of the key people from within our community to come together at the Luv a Duck canteen. So we had people there from the school, the police, the churches. Following that there were five that came on board. And they were the ambassadors, the ones that set the scene for the rest."
Karen refugee Plawtapoe Ganemy-Kunoo moved to Nhill two years ago.
"For me when I moved here it was kind of a massive leap of faith. I absolutely love the life here. I enjoy the simple country lifestyle and the people here are very friendly and welcoming."
The 28-year-old says she now has the future her father dreamt of while in the refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border.
"My Dad was the Secretary for the Karen President. So we were fighting against the regime. And our family was blacklisted I guess from the country so it wasn't safe for us to live there any more. So he pretty much left his country with my mum to find a better future, and a safer future for his three girls."
Thanks to the influx of refugees, Ms Ganemy-Kunoo has found work as a migration officer.
She also teaches Karen at the local school.
"They wanted to teach a language that was relevant I guess to the community and to the students so they will be able to use. It will also help them get to know their neighbours and the new Karen kids here."
Since early 2010 about 170 Karen refugees have move to Nhill.
An impact study has found the resettlement program has added $40 million to the town's economy, and led to the creation of 70 full-time jobs.
The study was co-authored by the settlement agency AMES and Deloitte Access Economics.
Manager of research and policy at AMES Jenni Blencowe says Nhill's rural location was one of the factors that made it appealing to the refugees.
"They'd all been all in Melbourne but they had come from very much a rural situation in Burma and then living in the camps on the Thai-Burma border. So for them it was probably going back to something they were more comfortable with than living in the city."
But it's the people of Nhill, above all else, who are credited with making the project a success.
Many volunteered as mentors, helping the refugees adjust to their new surroundings and making them feel "embraced", according to Plawtapoe Ganemy-Kunoo.
John Millington says the project would never have worked without the backing of the community.
"When you talk to the community and you say, 'These people have had a tough time of it. They've been in the camps along the Thai-Burma border'. And when our community is aware of all of that story they have been very generous and very open in the help that they have given."
And their help is much appreciated.
Every January the Karen community hosts a free new year celebration showcasing their culture, tradition and food.
Mr Millington says it's the refugees' way of saying "thank you".
