We brought our refugee resettlement employees together so they could do core training to support former refugee communities.

We share snippets from events around New Zealand, as our people and local communities marked World Refugee Day and celebrated the successes and contributions former refugees make.

Araiteuru Marae in Ōtepoti | Dunedin hosts a weekly event, Pātaka Ora. For the past few years, it has been a place for anyone to meet people from different cultures.

Olga and her daughter Kseniia arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand eight months ago carrying just their backpacks. They were the last of her immediate family to leave Crimea - a Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia.

As Jaafar Imran recalls this chilling warning, it is hard to imagine the struggles the family went through to begin a new life in New Zealand. Along with his wife, Ghusoon Khasmir, and four children – Sajjad, Mustafa, Murtadha and Fatimah – Jaafar recently celebrated his one year Kiwi anniversary, settling into their new lives in Dunedin.