11-07-2025
Traditional textile skills provide work opportunity for Afghan refugees
Hakimeh Rahimi has always wanted to be a fashion designer.
"My mum was always encouraging me … [and] I learnt to make clothes and dresses and things like that," she said.
Ms Rahimi grew up in Afghanistan, but her family was forced to flee to Iran when the Taliban took over in the 1990s.
Still a child when she fled as a refugee, she was unable to attend high school, limiting her opportunity to pursue the career she longed for in textiles.
Despite this, she continued her craft and brought it with her when she and her husband came as refugees to Australia in 2014.
Ms Rahimi now lives in Wagga Wagga, in southern New South Wales, and has made curtains and blinds for a local business, but an injury means she can no longer use scissors.
She still aspires to open a sewing shop, and is hopeful treatment will mean she can work with her hands again.
Ms Rahimi said the language barrier impacted on the confidence of many Afghan women, while other people with a similar background dismissed their skills as common because sewing was a significant part of their culture.
"Some people think because in Afghanistan, everybody knows how to do embroidery, it's not that important. So when I ask, 'Can you do embroidery?' They ask, 'Who's going to buy it?'"
A new initiative run by the Wagga Wagga City Council hopes to answer that question, while boosting language skills and fostering work opportunities.
The Mending People project seeks to unite refugees with others in the Wagga community based on a common love for stitchery.
Participants collaborate to make blanket banners and learn mending and stitching skills from cultures all around the world.
Ms Rahimi is hopeful the project will give other refugees the confidence to pursue careers in textiles, because it connects them with the broader community over a shared love.
Afghan refugee Rogayeh Uzbak is teaching others stitchery through the project.
She also grew up in Iran after her family members fled their homeland.
Speaking through an interpreter, she said she grew up in a "misogynistic" family that would not allow her to pursue her interest in stitching, weaving and knitting.
She said at the age of 13 she was forcibly married to a 50-year-old man who would not allow her to work, but she was able to hone her skills and sell some of her work.
After emigrating to Australia in 2023, Ms Uzbak continued to use her craft and now teaches others through workshops, which makes her "very excited".
Migration researcher at the Universities of Melbourne and Wollongong Eliza Crosbie said language was a barrier for refugees looking for work when they arrived in Australia.
"Often not being able to communicate is a barrier, which can see people entering into roles where the language isn't as important," she said.
"We conducted a survey with 600 former refugees and found that primarily a lot of them were working in meatworks and cleaning."
Dr Crosbie said while some refugees came to Australia with skills, they might not be recognised.
"They are not often either given the opportunity to demonstrate their skills or given the help to get the certification or transfer their skills," she said.
Dr Crosbie said the Paw Po textiles social enterprise at Nhill, in regional Victoria, had been successful in helping refugees transfer their skills.
Founded in 2015, Paw Po began teaching English to Karen refugee women from Myanmar, before moving to sewing.
"The women started to express that they wanted to learn skills that would give them further opportunities," Paw Po program manager Annette Creek said.
The business produces a range of practical products ranging from bags to oven mitts, cushions, backpacks and face masks.
Ms Creek said they kept connections with the Karen people by sourcing fabrics from Thai refugee camps.
"Often these women have come straight from refugee camps, and this is a really incredibly valuable way to incorporate them into the community," she said.
