Refugee charity Sultan Foundation launched in honour of Hobart magnate

The family of Hobart magnate Ali Sultan have launched a charity to help refugees get into Tasmania.

A dad’s legacy will live on through a new charity that helps refugees get into Tasmania.

The Sultan Foundation was launched on Friday in honour of poor Lebanese immigrant turned influential Hobart millionaire Ali Sultan.

Mr Sultan’s inspiring rags to riches story was cut short early this year when he died while bushwalking in Mount Wellington, aged 73.

Developer Ali Sultan who is about to put in the development application for his Montpelier Retreat development with a scale model of the buildings

His son Moe Sultan said his dad always went out of his way to help refugees, and that the foundation would be his way of keeping that legacy alive.

“Dad has assisted migrant communities for perhaps the last 40 years. I think when he came out to Tasmania in the 70s and saw what a wonderful place it was, the first thing he thought about was: ‘how do I bring more people out here’?” Mr Sultan said.

“[Refugees] are people who are very grateful to be here, they want to be here, they want to be part of our community, and they are able to make significant contributions to our economy and society.”

The foundation will help refugees enter Tasmania by liaising with the government and helping them navigate the bewildering bureaucracy.

Further down the track, the foundation hopes to help newly feel welcomed into the community by helping them find work and a place to call home.

In light of recent events, Mr Sultan said they were especially keen to help out Afghani refugees who were being terrorised by the Taliban.

Moe Sultan with brothers Reza Rezaie and Ali Rezaie members of the local Hazara community who came from Kabul Afghanistan five years ago and have employment with Sultan Holdings. Moe Sultan has launched a foundation in honour of this late father Ali Sultan with the aim to help refugees find their way in Tasmania. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Reza Rezaie, who works at the Sultan Parking garage, is one such Afghani refugee who has made Hobart his home.

Five years ago Mr Rezaie left Kabul and arrived in Tasmania, where he found a new home and a place where he could finally be himself.

“Here we have a free country, we have nice people, and we can be who we want to be,” Mr Rezaie said.

“If I want to be something, if I want to learn something, if I work hard I know one day I will become what I want to be. My dream is to just be free and to work.”

His brother Hasan Rezaie said coming to a new country had been a scary and confusing experience, but he quickly found people who helped him settle in and feel at home.

“We needed some support at the start, because when you come here you’re like a newborn baby. You don’t know what to do, how to speak, how to find you way,” Mr Rezaie said.

“It’s always scary when you start something, but you go forward, you learn more, and you become brave.”

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