Afghan social entrepreneur wins Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition - MASHAHER

Key Points

Afghan refugee Hedayat Osyan is the winner of the 2024 Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition.
The award recognises an outstanding former refugee raising awareness of the plight of forcibly displaced people.
Osyan’s social enterprise CommUnity Construction has employed and trained dozens of refugees.

Hedayat Osyan knows a thing or two about changing lives for the better.

Since setting up his social enterprise CommUnity Construction seven years ago, Osyan, a former refugee from Afghanistan, has employed and trained dozens of refugees with limited English language skills.

He can now add the 2024 Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition to his list of achievements.

The award, sponsored by SBS and named after former SBS sports broadcaster Les Murray AM, who came to Australia as a refugee from Hungary, recognises an outstanding former refugee raising awareness of the plight of forcibly displaced people.

“I congratulate Hedayat Osyan for his many achievements and commitment to providing work for a vulnerable community that needed a trusted partner to help them build pathways for their careers and livelihoods,” James Taylor, Managing Director of SBS, said.

“We want to prove refugees are resilient, hard workers and bring new skills to society if you give them an opportunity,” Osyan said.

Osyan is a member of Afghanistan’s persecuted Hazara community. He was just 17 when the Taliban attacked his family’s village in Ghazni in 2009, forcing him to flee and travel by boat to Australia. He was detained on Christmas Island for three months.

In 2010, he received his residency and moved to Sydney where he studied English at Marsden High School before completing years 11 and 12.

He’s now trained 90 refugees from different countries, with 60 employed in construction and four setting up their own companies.

“We help refugees thrive and become independent,” Osyan said. “We want to prove refugees are resilient, hard workers and bring new skills to society if you give them an opportunity.”

Source Agencies