Fessehaie Abraham: the refugee who brought Eritrea to Australia

Fessehaie Abraham with his mother and Gabi Hollows after the opening of an intraocular lens factory in Asmara in 1994.

What did Thomas Keneally and Fred Hollows have in common?

They were both friends of Fessehaie Abraham, a refugee from Eritrea, who arrived in Australia in 1978 and spent the next 15 years mobilising support for his people.

His extraordinary work led to the recruitment of Australian icons such as Keneally and Hollows to the Eritrean cause, and had longer-term impacts, including contributing to the establishment of the Fred Hollows Foundation.

Read the amazing story of Fessehaie, written by Stephen Howes, in our latest Aid Profile “The refugee who brought Eritrea to Australia.”

You can catch up on all the past Aid Profiles here.

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Ashlee Betteridge

Ashlee Betteridge was the Manager of the Development Policy Centre until April 2021. She was previously a Research Officer at the centre from 2013-2017. A former journalist, she holds a Master of Public Policy (Development Policy) from ANU and has development experience in Indonesia and Timor-Leste. She now has her own consultancy, Better Things Consulting, and works across several large projects with managing contractors.

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