Refugee Week 2026: A Million Stories

As Europe recovered from the devastation of World War II, Australia responded to an international call to offer a future to people with nowhere to call home. Since that initial agreement in 1947 to receive 4000 refugees from Central Europe, Australia has issued one million permanent humanitarian visas – welcoming people from all parts of the globe, people who have helped to build modern Australia.

Refugee Week 2026 is a moment to reflect on that milestone and to celebrate the million stories behind it: each story is unique, each story is powerful.

Updated May 21, 2026
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Exit west
Hamid, Mohsin
Paper Book
One of The New York Times's 100 Best Books of the 21st Century FINALIST FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE & WINNER OF THE L.A. TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR FICTION and THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE "It was as if Hamid knew what was going to happen to America and the...
On earth we're briefly gorgeous
Vuong, Ocean
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller * Nominated for the National Book Award for Fiction * Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century ...
The kite runner
Hosseini, Khaled
Paper Book
Twelve year old Amir is desperate to win the approval of his father Baba, one of the richest and most respected merchants in Kabul. He has failed to do so through academia or brawn, but the one area where they connect is the annual kite fighting tournament. Amir is determined not just to win the...
Prophet song
Lynch, Paul
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023 * INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER Winner of the 2024 Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist for the 2024 Kirkus Prize Shortlisted for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award One of The Irish Times's 100 Best Books of...
Afterlives
Gurnah, Abdulrazak
Paper Book
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2022 A NEW YORKER "ESSENTIAL READ" A NATIONAL BESTSELLER NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, TIME, THE NEW YORKER, BOOKPAGE, AND KIRKUS...
The refugees
Nguyen, Viet Thanh
Paper Book
Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer was one of the most widely and highly praised novels of 2015, the winner not only of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, but also the Center for Fiction Debut Novel Prize, the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, the ALA Carnegie Medal for Fiction, the Asian...
Girl at war : a novel
Novic, Sara
Paper Book
For readers of The Tiger's Wife and All the Light We Cannot See comes a powerful debut novel about a girl's coming of age--and how her sense of family, friendship, love, and belonging is profoundly shaped by war. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE...

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