Toowoomba Yazidi community: CatholicCare no closer to receiving more funding from federal government to support refugees

One of Toowoomba’s most vulnerable minority groups is at risk of being left isolated by repeated funding cuts — but their pleas to the federal government continue to fall on deaf ears.

After escaping the most horrific circumstances to find a new life, Naser Cosah finally has hope for his boys and his community — but government decisions threaten that optimism.

The former refugee from Iraq says he fears for the thousands of Yazidi people living in Toowoomba that will wait even longer for help with essential services like housing, financial management and healthcare.

This is due to support service CatholicCare being unable to pay for enough workers, with the organisation forced to halve its TRAMS (Toowoomba Refugee and Migrant Service) workforce because of cuts to funding.

Refugee advocates say the continued shortfalls in funding for the Settlement Engagement and Transition Support (SETS) program by the federal government, to the tune of $140,000, are to blame.

Naser Cosah, pictured here with his children Riley, Adrian, Safan and Sevan, says he is concerned for members of his Yazidi community if the federal government does not restore funding to CatholicCare for its refugee service TRAMS.

This is bad news for the fast-growing Yazidi community of Toowoomba, which is considered one of the largest collections of the monotheistic ethnoreligious minority group in Australia.

Estimates suggest there are more than 4000 Yazidi people in the Garden City, of which as many as 800 are clients of the TRAMS program.

On top of the sheer number of potential participants, the Yazidi community faces an extraordinary number of obstacles, including language barriers, cultural understandings and significant mental health issues.

Mr Cosah said he and his family are regulars at CatholicCare, but he meets many who need it even more.

“Sometimes we might go twice a week for support and sometimes we might not go for 15 days — it (usually) involves dealing with real estate, birth certificates for my children and citizenship applications,” he said.

“(The loss of funding) will have a big impact on the community, because I’m going there sometimes, but for others they will go there every day for support.

“We do have people who can’t ask for support to book an appointment in hospital – it’s really difficult for them and their situation is much worse than ours.

“We’re asking the government to fund TRAMS so they can get more support.”

Concerned by CatholicCare's loss of funding for the Toowoomba Refugee and Migrant Support (TRAMS) service and its impacts on the city's Yazidi community are case worker-in-training Nayif Rasho and CatholicCare CEO Kate Venables.

Despite requests from CatholicCare, former mayor Paul Antonio, Groom MP Garth Hamilton and The Chronicle, the Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has not responded about coming to Toowoomba to meet with the community.

CatholicCare CEO Kate Venables has slammed the silence, saying Yazidi residents deserved the proper respect.

“When is the Australian government going to understand that people need vital information in their own language?” she said.

“We should have interpreting services on staff, it’s a basic human right for this community.”

TRAMS co-ordinator Rachel Smith said just six months after her two other staff were laid off, the difference was being felt.

“The wait times are increasing, now clients are choosing not to take our appointments,” she said.

“If we have to go back to the bare bones of helping people immediately, we’re not helping them resettle.

“This community is very resilient, they have come through difficult things, however there are a lot of complexities that add to the problems for the community.

“TRAMS staff have worked with a number of different communities and we know the Yazidi community is particularly vulnerable and has required some extra support.”

Ms Smith said TRAMS’ true value was acting as a linking point for refugees and other organisations, like hospital, law enforcement, the government and businesses.

“The top five areas we work in are citizenship and migration, law and legal (as in, birth registrations, parking fines), housing, financial and household management and physical health,” she said.

“It’s impossible to prioritise when all those things are important – which are we going to determine are not?

“I’m concerned that we’ve settled a community and you can’t expect people to settle well and feel welcomed if they’re not provided the support they need.”

Groom MP LNP candidate Garth Hamilton and wife Louise cast their vote in the federal election at Centenary Heights State High School, Saturday, May 21, 2022. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Parties unite over refugee funding plea

Both Toowoomba’s LNP member and the Greens have called on the Federal Labor Government to restore much-needed funding to support the city’s growing and complicated Yazidi community, with both sides urging the minister to come to town.

In a rare show of unity, Groom MP Garth Hamilton and Greens Senator for Queensland Penny Allman-Payne have shared the same message to Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.

It comes six weeks after CatholicCare announced it could no longer fill the funding shortfalls in its TRAMS program, which is responsible for supporting hundreds of Yazidi people and their families.

The community has grown to as many as 5000 people across Toowoomba since the first residents arrived from Iraq and Syria in 2017, escaping civil war and persecution at the hands of Islamic State.

Pleas from CatholicCare and former Toowoomba mayor Paul Antonio for the Department of Home Affairs to reverse the Morrison Government’s cuts to SETS funding in 2019 have so far fallen on deaf ears, despite it being as little as $200,000.

Co-ordinators now fear refugees needing immediate assistance with housing, healthcare, bills and citizenship will have their requested pushed back.

Mr Hamilton has vowed to ramp up his efforts, saying the Yazidi community was clearly a “unique” case due to its complicated needs.

“I’ve separately extended an invitation to the minister — there are a unique set of circumstances here, I’ve been happy to work with the community to provide an ongoing solution,” he said.

“Having met with many members of that community and seeing the challenges they face, it’s incumbent upon us to make sure they’re the best placed to settle here.

“Some of those issues only become visible after a period of settlement — some of these things we weren’t aware of but we clearly are now.

“Some of these cases are extremely distressing and we all remember the coverage at the time, so specialist intervention is needed.”

Senator Penny Allman-Payne. NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

Senator Allman-Payne was equally-scathing of Labor’s position, accusing the government of not fully-funding its refugee support programs.

“Our argument is we should be investing significantly more than we are in those services,” she said.

“People are assuming there’s a changed approach to refugees with a Labor government in — they’re extending programs, we’re not seeing an actual overall increase.

“I would strongly urge them to reinstate that funding – $200,000 is a drop in the ocean,” Senator Allman-Payne said.

Mr Giles’ office has been contacted a number of times by The Chronicle, only receiving a reply from the Department of Home Affairs.