To mark the 2022 Refugee Week with the theme of Healing, the Vietnamese Australian Forum explores “The Power of Refugees.” 

Human displacement is often seen as a crisis and threat to global order. Refugees are commonly seen as helpless and burdens on society. This forum challenges these popular ideas. The speakers will discuss how their journeys have shaped them and will provide insights into what it means to be a refugee, and what it means to be Australian.

Carina Hoang is Ambassador of Australia for UNHCR, an author, actor, public intellectual and Vietnamese boatperson. She edited the acclaimed book, BOAT PEOPLE: Personal Stories from the Vietnamese Exodus 1975-1996.

Abdul Hafaiz is an ANU politics graduate, rideshare driver, and Rohingya refugee. He tells his story in the ABC radio series “Hailing Ali”.

Farhat Kohistani was a writer, NGO manager, and computer engineering student before she fled Afghanistan in 2021. She features in the film Die. Or Die Trying: Escaping the Taliban.

Facilitator Kim Huynh teaches Refugee Politics at the ANU and hosts ABC Radio Canberra’s Sunday Brunch program. He is the author of Where the Sea Takes Us: A Vietnamese-Australian Story.