If you think it`s hard enough to rent a house in Sydney, imagine if you were a refugee, leaving everything from your hometown in a foreign country and trying to find a place to live in Sydney?
After an influx of Iraqi and Syrian refugees, they are struggling to find a place to live. Some service groups say the federal goverment needs to provide them with shelter to deal with such a big problem.
"We left everything behind us, our house, our property, our money, we left everything and fled here." Randa Shakoori, an Iraqi Christian, said.
Ms. Shakoori and her husband, as well as three children, fled from Karks, south-west Iraq, where their homeland had been captured by the Islamic State.
The family of five is now living in the home of relatives in Sydney. The family`s Fairfield, in Sydney is a two-bedroom unit, and now the family of five is crammed into one of them.
Although they have filled in countless rental applications since they arrived in Australia last December. But despite their efforts to find a place to live, they have yet to find it.
"We feel so stressed that we often cry. This condition is also very difficult for us, and everyone in this family is tired. "
Now, more than 6000 refugees have been resettled in Fairfield, almost half the number of licensed humanitarian aid received by the federal goverment.
Frank Carbone, mayor of Fairfield, said prices in the local property market were becoming increasingly unaffordable because Fairfield`s local housing supply was already in short supply.
"at the moment, everyone is facing such a challenge. Even if you are not a refugee, you still face many challenges in buying a house. We all know how hard it is. How much the rent is, "says Mr Carbone.
At present, the median rent in the area is A $500 a week. But Vince Morizo of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce says many tenants are giving them extra stimulus to disrupt the property market.
"you might encounter people who step back and, to make sure they can rent a house, say to the agent:" the rent is 500 a week, right? I`m willing to pay the 550-week rent and half a year`s rent ahead of time. "
"it makes renting impossible for many people."
The Parents Cafe is a non-profit-making cafe dedicated to serving refugees in Fairfield. Owner Haitham JuJu says he knows 40 families are struggling to find a place to live here.
"some families can no longer tolerate such a situation. They never expected things to be so difficult. Some of them were crying and some had family disputes. It makes them feel very depressed. "
According to Mr. Juju, the Federal goverment should house these refugee families.
"if there are more opportunities to give them a special place to live. It will be a good system. "
Zed Seselja, assistant minister for social services and multiculturalism, said Fairfield`s refugees had many options in dealing with housing issues, and his department had not noticed that anyone had difficulties in finding housing.
The federal government plans to spend more than $6.3 billion in spending to place services over the next four years, while Mr. Seselja said it was enough.
Syria and Iraq have accepted refugees on an ongoing basis and have been included in the budget. He has been put under management by goverment`s existing humanitarian relief program in Australia. "
Settlement Services International`s Patrick Yeung, a humanitarian aid provider who has been receiving funding from the federal goverment, said the agency is implementing a wide range of policies to address the housing problem of refugees.
"We are managing our own housing information and our privately owned property is very willing to rent to our client community," Mr. Yeung said.
"at the same time, we have a strong network of contacts with local real estate agents, so they will be more willing to accept our customers."
But, says Ms Shakoori, there is still a lot to be done.
"We hope that goverment will give us some more chance. To help the refugees. They came here under great pressure and trauma, so they needed to help them find a place to live. " She said.
"We are tired here, and for those who have just arrived, I don`t want them to face the same problem."
