Ill prepared Irish immigrants arriving in Australia are falling on hard times, according to emigrant support organizations.
Western Australia based groups, the Claddagh Association and Friends of Sinn Féin have both reported a rise in the amount of young Irish seeking help, according to the Irish Echo.
“They’re arriving here unprepared,” said Tom Quinn of the Claddagh Association in Perth.
“They’re arriving and they’ve been told we’re waiting out here ready to give them jobs,” he added.
The majority of calls relate to a lack of money and low job prospects.
Quinn, who works with the Claddagh Association who assist people from the Irish Community in times of crisis, expressed frustration over the lack of preparation of some Irish arriving in Oz.
“One man called us on Good Friday. He arrived here three weeks before with $3,000 in his pocket and he thought it was going to last forever. He just made some bad decisions and he had spent it all already,” Quinn told the Echo.
“It’s just a lack of common sense,” he added.
Quinn reckons male immigrants are “throwing money away.”
“The only times girls have problems is when they’ve had accidents, which is different.
“We’ve also just had a case this week where a girl rented a room in a house and less than 24 hours after moving in, the door got busted down because the bloke that owned the house was selling drugs.
“She was the first one in the firing line, and she got a smack in the face and a knife was held to her throat,” he explained.
Friends of Sinn Féin member Dean Keating expressed concern over the way Australia is being portrayed back home in Ireland.
“With the expos back home, people think they can get off the plane in Perth and there will be employers waiting at the gate for them, but it’s not that way at all,” he said.
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