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Posted: 2024-08-01 19:48:35

Refugee Khorsand Yousofzai vividly remembers the day he fled Afghanistan, leaving behind his family and the career he built in professional soccer.

As the US withdrew and the Taliban took over in August 2021, the crowds at the Kabul airport meant his family couldn't say goodbye as he boarded the plane.

"That moment was really scary for us and everyone," he said.

"Everyone wanted to get into [the] airport and go outside Afghanistan."

Three pictures: man with glasses in plane, busy crowds next to airport, people standing in water next to armed guards

Mr Yousofzai leaving the Kabul airport and boarding the plane to Australia.   (Supplied: Khorsand Yousofzai)

After a three-year wait, Mr Yousofzai has been reunited with his wife, parents and siblings in Newcastle, New South Wales.

But the family of six has not been able to find a permanent home with the four bedrooms they need, living in a hotel and then temporary accommodation since their arrival in June.

"We searched a lot … [and asked] the people that we know, a lot of networks that we have," he said.

"It's really hard to find and we are struggling with this problem."

Man in blue jacket and woman in head scarf leaning against bricked pillar

Mr Yousofzai with his mother Deeba at their temporary accommodation in Newcastle.(ABC News: Jesmine Cheong)

In 2021, international advocates scrambled to sort out visas for female athletes who were fleeing Afghanistan after the Taliban took control.

Mr Yousofzai was the owner and head coach of the Afghan Women's Premier League team, Royal Kabul FC, and was able to get an emergency visa to enter Australia.

He has continued coaching in Australia and helps organise overseas trips for young players.

man wearing blue jacket with a girls soccer team, wearing bright yellow uniform

Mr Yousofzai with his under 15 girls team in Afghanistan.(Supplied:  Khorsand Yousofzai)

Landlords get to be 'picky'

After being separated for so long, Mr Yousofzai is determined to live in a home with his whole family.

But he said there was "no control of renting prices" and securing affordable housing was even more difficult now than when he first arrived.

"The real estate … after each contract, they're asking for higher rentals from the same house that you're living," he said.

His mother Deeba, a physics professor who previously worked for the Women's Affairs Ministry in Afghanistan, said they were "not looking for a palace … just enough rooms".

"We are an educated family, and we will try to find [a] job, and we do not hurt any person, but for now we are facing the problem to find a house for six person," she said.

Deeba Yousofzai 1

Deeba Yousofzai had worked for the Women's Affairs Ministry in Afghanistan.(ABC News: Jesmine Cheong)

Hunter Tenants Advice Service coordinator Nicole Grgas has worked in the sector for more than two decades.

She said it was not uncommon for culturally and linguistically diverse families to live in larger multi-generational households, but that it could pose additional challenges.

Woman's hands with ring with green stone

Mrs Yousofzai says they just need a house with enough rooms for their family.(ABC News: Jesmine Cheong)

"We frequently see landlords say only two people can live in a house that's got four bedrooms," Ms Grgas said.

"Which is really under-utilising these properties, but they can because they own the property and tenancy law says you can say how many people can ordinarily live there.

"A lot of our refugee families are extended families, or they have a large family complement and so that actually adds an added difficulty in the current climate."

Man wearing blue jacket hugging woman in black headscarf

Mr Yousofzai hugging his mother Deeba outside their temporary accommodation.(ABC News: Jesmine Cheong)

'Historic trauma' triggered

Jawaid Pardehi is the Settlement, Families and Communities manager at Mosaic Multicultural Connections, which aims to support refugees and migrants.

Mr Pardehi recently moved to Newcastle and applied for more than 20 rental properties.

"I don't have any language barrier, I know the system very well," he said.

"So now you can imagine how difficult [it is] for those people, they don't know language, they don't know services."

Man wearing dark blue sweater standing infront of sign that says 'Mosaic'

Mr Pardehi says the housing crisis has impacted the mental health of refugee families.(ABC News: Jesmine Cheong)

Mr Pardehi said the housing crisis could affect the mental health of refugee families, who were sometimes forced to split up to secure a home.

"When they come here and find out they cannot live together, that historic trauma is again triggered," he said.

"Children not focusing on school while they study, when the parents go for English class, they don't concentrate on the English class … they don't communicate well with the wider community.

"They are not feeling happy living in their houses, just because they are not living together."

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