*All names have been changed for privacy reasons.
The bomb hit Hasan*, aged 8, and his family as they were trying to make it to a bomb shelter near their home in Syria.
His father was running ahead with Hasan’s younger brother and sister — all three died.
Hasan and his mother — pregnant at the time with Hasan’s younger brother — survived, but Hasan suffered major internal injuries, a damaged arm and one of his legs had to be amputated at the hip.
Later challenges included an escape to Lebanon, multiple operations to save Hasan’s life, and dealing with the psychological trauma, including the earlier death of another sister from cancer.
Finally, the family of three was invited to New Zealand as part of the government’s refugee quota, with Syrian Arabic their only language.
They were among the first refugees brought to Dunedin, where they were given a shabby, two-bedroom Kāinga Ora house.
That was 10 years ago and the house has only aged since then. Built in 1951, it has a tiny kitchen with original, dilapidated cupboards that look like they should be in a museum.
There is a tiny bathroom, tiny living room with a wood stove — no other heating — and two bedrooms. The washing machine is in a cellar, only accessible from outside.
Hasan — who does not have a disability adviser and has been issued the kind of adjustable crutches that hospitals might offer for a broken ankle — says an official came to the house shortly after the family moved in, and took him to the bathroom.
It has a narrow bath and fixed shower head above it that cannot be removed.
With no wall grips to hold on to, Hasan was asked to get in the bath. He performed this feat, and the official left.
End of story, says Hasan.
No adaptations were made to the house, not even in the bathroom. Hasan also has to navigate a long, sloping path to access the front door.
The fact there were only two bedrooms worked for a while; Hasan’s brother was young and slept with his mother. However, the family’s situation is far more cramped now.
Hasan’s mother has found love and married a man from Syria who speaks her language and shares her religion and culture.
Hasan, now nearly 20, continues to live at home, in a room he must share with his much younger brother, while they both try to focus on their studies.
Living together means the family can support each other, which is important to them. However, the poor conditions and overcrowding is palpable and so is the system’s lack of planning for the family’s obvious future needs.
They have been on the waiting list for a bigger, more appropriate house for two years with no offer in sight.
There is mould on the bedroom’s walls. Hasan is often sick and suffers from fatigue. His brother has asthma.
The Otago Daily Times asked the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) about efforts to rehouse the family in a suitable three-bedroom house from the government housing agency Kāinga Ora.
Little clarity was provided.
MSD southern regional director Sue Rissman said Hasan’s mother is given a "wide range of support" and mentioned "translation support" and the option to bring a support person to meetings.
Four months ago, the family’s "priority rating" for housing was increased from A13 to A15, she said.
The "A" stands for "at risk", which means the household’s wellbeing is "severely affected (or is seriously at risk) and there is an immediate need for action" due to their unsuitable housing.
Kāinga Ora regional director Julia Campbell said that when the family had moved into their home "the boys were young enough to share a room. No mobility-related modifications were identified as necessary then".
She understood "needs have changed", making living "more challenging".
It was perplexing, as Hasan’s disabilities have not changed.
Ms Campbell added: "If a home that meets their needs becomes available and they are at the top of the priority list, they will be offered it."
The maximum rating is A20, not A15, meaning the family may not be "at the top".
The other, fundamental, problem is the lack of houses.
Ms Campbell said the "vast majority" of southern tenants were living in "right-sized homes", but if a tenant’s needs changed, relocating them "isn’t always easy".
There were two three-bedroom homes available in Dunedin, she said — but went on to say they were not available.
"Those homes have already been matched to other families in need."
The ODT asked whether Kāinga Ora could renovate and extend the family’s house?
It seemed the ideal solution. The house is on a good-sized plot, in a suburb where the family feels settled, close to their places of education.
"Kāinga Ora does not fund extensions," Ms Campbell said.
No explanation was provided regarding why not.
A "transfer" to a home that better met their needs was the "best option".
Ms Campbell encouraged the family to contact MSD to get needs reassessed, but offered no clarity regarding what that might achieve.
The ODT told the family what the officials had said.
Speaking through her son, as translator, Hasan’s mum — a gently-spoken and polite woman — said the situation felt unfair.
"It is horrible, stressful."
The ODT pressed again.
It was told a further nine three-bedroom homes would become available by the end of April — eight in Mosgiel, one in Brockville — but 33 families in Dunedin were seeking such a home.
MSD’s Ms Rissman said: "There is very high demand for a very limited supply.".
MSD would, when the nine homes were ready, provide Kāinga Ora with a list of families whose "housing and location needs match the property" and Kāinga Ora would then "select the whānau that is best suited to the home and community".
Noting Hasan’s disabilities — and the government’s long-standing knowledge of his family’s housing need in the city they were sent to — the ODT asked if any of the three-bedroom houses coming on stream were single storey.
They were not, Kāinga Ora said, and none was in the suburb where the family are settled.
The ODT asked Kāinga Ora if Hasan’s family’s case could be treated as an exceptional case, noting his disability, and their house extended.
Kāinga Ora said it had "nothing further to add".
Second case study
Despite painful eczema, Ali* is a smiley baby, blissfully unaware that his parents are homeless.
Yara*, 19, and Karam*, 21, are raising Ali in one room in South Dunedin, after being removed from the housing waiting list.
Yara suffers from asthma and the room is in a house rented to five other people — Karam’s parents and siblings, who arrived as a family from Syria three years ago.
The two families — eight people — share one living room, a small kitchen and a small bathroom.
The house is a private rental; they were never offered a Kāinga Ora house and not put on the waiting list for one.
Neither of Karam’s parents speaks English and neither works. Karam’s mother was injured in a road crash in Syria and Karam’s father has facial palsy, due to a stroke after the crash.
Karam’s mother is scared their tenancy will be ended and the family also fears harassment.
When the ODT visited, someone had just thrown a large cardboard box of broken glass into their front yard.
Yara and Karam went on the waiting list for a Kāinga Ora house last May and were offered a house last October.
It was on a main street, old, attached to another house and Yara was worried the neighbour might complain about the baby’s crying.
In her broken English, she declined the property, hoping a better choice might be available.
MSD says Yara was sent a letter, dated October 14, "giving a further opportunity to provide reasons for declining the property" — and then took the family off the housing waiting list.
A dive into MSD rules shows they changed in 2016 under John Key’s National government and its "social housing reform programme".
A media release dated January 22, 2016 about the programme says a client who declines a "suitable" property without good reason "may" now be removed from the housing waiting list.
The word "may" inferred MSD has the choice to invoke the power, or not, for any given family.
However, MSD’s Work and Income website now uses more hardline language.
The site’s page about declining a property says that if someone declines "without a good and sufficient reason, they will be removed immediately".
The rules say people must be advised, in advance, of the consequence of declining.
Yara says she was not advised. She had no idea she would be taken off the waiting list.
MSD says she was advised — in a MSD letter about rules, sent last July prior to the house offer.
The ODT queried MSD’s internal processes.
Aside from sending someone a letter of rules, if someone refused a house, would they be reminded of those rules and given a chance to consider changing their mind and accept the house, rather than being taken off the list?
And had Yara been given this chance?
Ms Rissman at MSD reverted to a helicopter response.
There were more than 24,000 people on New Zealand’s housing waiting list, many with complex needs. If someone turned down a house it would generally be offered to someone else, she said.
Yara has asked for her little family to go back on the list and MSD confirmed they were on it again. The rules only allow MSD to take refusers off the list for 13 weeks.
Yara says she has not, however, been offered a house — an MSD official told her to look for a private rental.
