''That would be lovely - that would be perfect,'' she said.
''I would love to be a part of that.''
Mrs Lafraie knows better than most people what it would mean for Dunedin to have a refugee resettlement centre, because she herself came to New Zealand as a refugee.
In the 1990s, Mrs Lafraie, her husband, and their children were living in Kabul, Afghanistan.
They were happy, she said. But then, the Taliban took power, forcing all of them into hiding.
Mrs Lafraie's husband, Dr Najibullah Lafraie, was wanted by the Taliban because he had been the Afghani foreign minister.
Mrs Lafraie was also wanted because she had been involved in a project setting up tertiary education for women in Kabul.
When they went into hiding, Mrs Lafraie said, she thought it would only be for a couple of days, but the family ended up living in a single room for about a year.
The Taliban was looking for them, she said.
''And they also imprisoned my brother-in-law who also passed away. They tortured him a lot.''
Eventually, they left and managed to make it to Pakistan, where they applied for refugee status.
Three years later, they arrived at Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre in Auckland.
''For us, it was the best place on earth. Because ... after four years of fear that your husband could be killed any time, or your girls could be taken and raped at any time, or same thing would happen to you, to come to a place like Mangere ... for us it was the safest, the best place on earth,'' she said.
''After four years, I had the first time of having to go to bed without any worry.''
Now, Mrs Lafraie works as a nurse at Dunedin Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.
Her husband is a lecturer at the University of Otago, and helped found the university's National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, where he remains a research fellow.
Their four children, Mrs Lafraie says proudly, have all gained tertiary educations, and their student loans are all repaid.
''There will never be enough to say thank you to New Zealand and its people, I understand that,'' she said.
''But we're trying really hard to stand on our own feet.''
Mrs Lafraie said even now, 15 years after arriving in New Zealand, it was difficult to listen to ongoing debates about refugees and the Syrian refugee crisis.
''Automatically you go back to where you were,'' she said.
''I know what they go through. So it's very easy for me to say, accept all of them.''
She knows there are many stereotypes about refugees - that they want to live off government money, that they are terrorists, that they do not actually need help, because they are wealthy and have smart phones.
And, in Kabul, Mrs Lafraie said, her family was well-off.
''We could afford anything. We've travelled the world. But a time came that we couldn't do anything,'' she said.
''It's not how much money you have ... once there is no safety and security, there's nothing.''
Mrs Lafraie knows not every refugee family is like hers - many do not speak English, and even more have never travelled or been educated.
''[Those people] will be on government assistance for a bit longer. But ... most of us are quite hard working. Most of us are quite grateful.''
She hoped New Zealanders would see that, and the Government would accept more refugees. And she hoped some of those refugees would come to Dunedin, to have a chance at the life she and her family had been able to build.
She also hoped to go back to Afghanistan one day - she never wanted to leave. And that was something she probably shared with most refugees, Mrs Lafraie said.
