Every month, the council helps hundreds of migrant workers renew visas, find accommodation and secure work - but hundreds more are left in the lurch with no idea support is available.

Many of these workers speak little to no english and figuring out the complicated processes on their own would be next to impossible, MCOG president Carmel La Rocca said.

"There is no immigration office in this area, so the multicultural council helps them as best we can ... but there are lots who do not know we can help them," Mrs La Rocca said.

Laumanu Vaea and Paea I Fukuoka Kakau travelled from Tonga to the Riverina in 2019 through the Pacific Labour Scheme.

Now desperate to return to their country, COVID-19 has left the pair stranded in Australia with expiring visas.

If their visas had expired, both Ms Vaea and Ms Kakau would have been unable to secure work and could potentially become homeless while stuck in a foreign country.

Thankfully the pair were able to find the MCOG and receive support, but many others are not so lucky, Mrs La Rocca said.

"There are so many people in that situation," she said. "Everyday there are some people who need help. And not just with visa expiry, they also need supporting finding education, health, housing, and employment."

According to Mrs La Rocca, Griffith does not have adequate services to help these people.

She says the MCOG needs to receive support so that they can find a permanent office, with a permanent employee dedicated to helping these migrant workers.

READ MORE:

"Every year more migrant workers are coming here and there is no clear place for them to go for help."

"We [the MCOG] are run entirely by volunteers at the moment ... we need a permanent office that is big enough to provide services to the multicultural society here."

"We need a permanent employee who the migrant workers know is there who can help them through that sort of thing."

Support for migrants in Griffith is also provided by staff from the Australian Red Cross Migration Support Program.

Red Cross support staff are in Griffith from 2pm to 4pm every Wednesday at the Griffith Community Health Centre.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: