Luisana and Ana are new to Melbourne, but their journey there was ‘totally different’ to other refugees

Bucking heated politics on immigration, Labor is making a trial program that resettles refugees across Australia permanent Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast After leaving their home in Venezuela, Luisana and Ana spent five years in Peru waiting for their new lives to begin. As refugees in a same-sex relationship and without the protection of citizenship, they feared for their safety. Then the messages from Australia started to arrive. Approved for resettlement here, the couple were matched with volunteers from a community group in Melbourne called Rosie’s Welcome. Among the nearly 1,000 people resettled in Australia as part of the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Program (Crisp), Lusiana and Ana quickly found safety and a sense of community. “Sometimes when I compare my journey with other refugee friends, our journeys are totally different,” Ana said. “When you have community support, you feel you have family. You feel you have help if you need it in some moments. Before they arrived in Australia, volunteers had organised accommodation, food, essentials including sim cards and were