The story of Armidale's successful Ezidi resettlement program

 

Ezidi students. Photo Simon Scott via UNE Life story 

In April 2017 I reported (Bias against the bush in Australian refugee resettlement) on the continuing unsuccessful  efforts in Armidale and Tamworth to make the cities eligible for refugee resettlement, SBS reported at the time on local disappointment: Regional community disappointed by government's rejection as resettlement location. On 11 August 2017 a breakthrough finally came: Armidale to settle 200 refugees - overview and discussion. 

Syrian refugees had been the original target group,  but this attempt failed because those re-settling wanted to be close to other Syrians in Sydney. Instead, Ezidi refugees came to the city from 2018. The Ezidi (Yazidi) are a minority religious group spread especially across Iraq, Syria and Turkey that has suffered considerable persecution most recently from ISIS. Those coming to Armidale came from Northern Iraq and included victims of the Sinjar massacre, 

Successful resettlement faced considerable challenges. Many of those coming had been traumatised, spoke no English, did not drive, had little experience of urban living and limited education. Despite the difficulties, the number of Ezidi living in Armidale grew. The 2021 census recorded that the city had 610 residents with both parents born in Iraq; the majority if not all would have been Ezidi. In April 2023 NBN news reported that there were 650 Ezidi now living in the city and that the resettlement program was proving mutually beneficial to both the Ezedi and the local community. The NBN report includes the TV news item that is worth watching, 

With the growing Ezidi population came new babies. In a story in the Armidale Express (June 2025: not on-line) Lydia Roberts reported that Armidale's population had grown by some seventy babies since the resettlement program began in 2018. Lydia also suggested that the Ezidi population had now grown to about 1200. 

Ezidi Food and Bakery, The Mall, 171 Beardy Street Armidale. Photo Heath Forsyth, story Armidale Express.

With many children already in the group, Ezidi students spread across the schools and into the University.  Now with successful  establishment came initial new businesses with the establishment of two restaurants, two barber shops plus two middle eastern supermarkets with others reportedly in the pipeline. There were some initial reservations in Armidale about making the city a resettlement centre, but these seem relatively limited and have diminished with time, replaced I think with a feeling of pride.

The reasons for the success of  Ezidi resettlement in Armidale deserve detailed analysis. At this point I simply note that many factors contributed to the success of the the resettlement program. 

Armidale had to fight to become the first new regional refugee settlement in eleven years under the Commonwealth Government's Humanitarian Program creating a supportive atmosphere. Local members of Parliament Barnaby Joyce (New England) and Adam Marshall (Northern Tablelands) were supportive. Settlement Services International (SSI) provided coordinating support helping integrate community activities with broader Government support. Community organisations such as Rotary were supported by volunteers who among other things provided English language conversation, driver training, a community garden and personal family support. The schools, TAFE and university combined in a variety of ways to support the initiative. As SSI noted (link above) it was a whole of community approach.

   

Stories Connect - Armidale, the Ezidis and creative expression

Back in August 2017 (Armidale to settle 200 refugees - overview and discussion) I reported that Armidale long fight to become a refugee resettlement centre had finally been successful.

Khalid Adi and his family colouring in. Photo Armidale Express.

Two years later Armidale is home to some 400 Ezidis.

Earlier in 2019, the New England Writers' Centre launched Stories Connect, a major program focussed around encouraging creative expression and making connections between newly- resettled Ezidi refugee families and other members of the Armidale community, through the sharing and creation of stories, pictures and music.

Supported by generous grants from the Regional Arts Fund, the Country Arts Support Program, Create NSW and Settlement Services International, with much-appreciated support from Armidale Regional Council, Arts North West and NERAM, Stories Connect launched in June. Over several months it featured a range of activities and events, from creative workshops for school age children and teenagers to community storytelling sessions; from the creation of documentary photographs by emerging photographers.

Stories Connect showcased the wide range of local talent and potential, both within the Ezidi and wider segments of the Armidale community. It’s been a great success, culminated in a popular exhibition at NERAM (the New England Regional Art Museum). Now a short documentary film has been released showcasing the project. It's rather good.

I have been asked not to embed the video because the Centre wants people to view it on its website. You will find the link here. The Armidale Express story on the launch of the NERAM exhibition is here. 

Armidale to settle 200 refugees - overview and discussion

In April (Bias against the bush in Australian refugee resettlement) I reported on the continuing difficulties that had been experienced in some New England areas including Armidale and Tamworth in gaining approval as refugee resettlement centres. Finally, a break through.

Armidale Panorama 

The Announcement

On 11 August 2017, the Turnbull/Joyce Government announced Armidale as a new community-driven regional settlement location for the settlement of refugees. Deputy Prime Minister and Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, was joined by Minister for Social Services, Christian Porter and Assistant Minister for Social Services, Zed Seselja in Armidale for the announcement.

Mr Joyce said the first of an estimated 200 refugees would settle in Armidale in February 2018. 

“Armidale is a good fit as a new regional settlement location for humanitarian entrants to Australia,” Mr Joyce said. “It has a strong, welcoming community demonstrated by the fact that this push for the city to be a settlement location for refugees was driven by the community itself.

“I have absolutely no doubt that Armidale will work closely with the refugees settling here to ensure they can take up all the opportunities available to those who choose to embrace the great lifestyle available in regional Australia.

“Some of the people who will settle here are fleeing unimaginable circumstances which have torn families apart.

“I’m sure that, with the necessary settlement services that will be provided and our welcoming community that refugees arriving in Armidale will be able to make a new start and build a safe, stable future which provides them with the same opportunities that all Australians enjoy.”

Minister for Social Services, Christian Porter, said the addition of Armidale as a key regional settlement site was part of the Government’s commitment to encourage migrant and humanitarian settlement outside the major cities.

“This move reflects the Government’s aim to encourage settlement of humanitarian entrants across Australia, not just in our larger cities and I thank and congratulate the people of Armidale and the NSW Government for their support for this initiative,” Minister Porter said.

Armidale Panorama

“Australia is a welcoming country to refugees. Our Humanitarian Program is growing from 16,250 to 18,750 in 2018-19 and beyond and it’s important that through our settlement services we encourage more settlement in regional areas.

Completing the trifecta of ministerial remarks, Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs, Zed Seselja, said the about 200 humanitarian entrants settling in Armidale would be primarily drawn from persecuted minorities from Syria and Iraq.

“The Government has focused on resettling women, children and families with the least prospect of ever returning safely to their homes,” Senator Seselja said. “Under the Government’s new Humanitarian Settlement Program, service delivery has been optimised to achieve better outcomes in employment, education and English language.

“We are committed to ensuring humanitarian entrants are able to overcome barriers, start a new life and integrate into Australian society as quickly as possible.

Settlement Services International, which is contracted through the Department of Social Services to provide settlement services, will provide on the ground settlement services to refugees in Armidale. “This will supplement existing services, providing a further boost to Armidale through SSI staff and resources in the region,” Senator Seselja.

“This settlement program in Armidale will build on the additional 12,000 refugees from Syria and Iraq who Australia committed to resettling. “The vast majority of these 12,000 refugees have arrived in Australia, with the remaining families expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

“Armidale provides a similar regional environment to the refugees’ source country,” he said. "The Australian Government carefully considers the establishment of new settlement locations.”  Factors considered in selecting settlement locations include:

• availability of mainstream services such as health and education;
• opportunities for employment;
• the size, cultural and religious composition of potential settlement communities;
• the availability of affordable rental housing;
• the support of the local council and community in welcoming newsettlers;
• the potential for the harmonious settlement of the specific group.

Comment

I have included links to media coverage at the end of the post.

University of New England International Hub

I assume that the majority of this refugee intake will be families, although it could included some individuals. I make this point because 200 sounds like a lot. If the average family size is four, we are talking about fifty families, 100 adults, 100 children. That is large enough to provide for self-support within the group but is small relative to Armidale’s size and existing international community in town, at the university and in the schools. 

In the media coverage, considerable emphasis was placed on the availability of jobs, including jobs in agriculture and at the big tomato growing facility at Guyra which has experienced some difficult in attracting workers. All this may be right, but it misses an important point. We should not assume that people will stay in Armidale.

I have been researching a little of the history of the big migrant camp at Greta in the Hunter Valley. Between 1949 and 1960 100,000 people passed through this camp. Some settled in the Hunter, most settled elsewhere. The camp was a transit point.

The critical thing for the refugees coming to Armidale is that they come to a stable and welcoming environment that can provide them with a base to recover and plan for their future. Hopefully that future will include Armidale, but it may not.

Civic welcome for International Students

While I know that there are some private reservations in Armidale, I have no doubt that the City will be welcoming, It’s had to work hard enough for the opportunity. Here I quote from the Express story:

"The federal government has finally recognised Armidale as a suitable refugee settlement location. It comes after years of lobbying by refugee advocacy groups and Armidale Regional Council.

“It’s not just Armidale who has been pushing for this either,” Sanctuary Humanitarian Settlement member Robin Jones said. 

“Multicultural NSW has promoted it, The Refugee Council of Australia has promoted it, Paul Power [its chief executive] has promoted it, it’s been a long time coming.” 

Dr Jones said this was excellent news for Armidale. 

“We’ve ready, willing and able, let me assure you,” she said. 

The city will also receive a boost in refugee services to assist the new arrivals according to Dr Jones. 

“We already have four services here - and the major one is Northern Settlement Services,” she said. 

“But we also have a refugee nurse - two refugee nurses in fact. “We have STARTTS, which is a councilling service that comes up from Coffs Harbor.“We have TAFE that has the language programs. 

“And we have a community that is very supportive too"

Armidale has already been a centre for some refugee resettlement. Makuach Maluach and his family arrived in Armidale in 2009 as refugees from South Sudan. Now Makuach is set to play college basketball in the US

The question of the availability of support services is a vexed one. I have made the point before that I think the approach adopted by the Federal Government is far too rigid and bureaucratic.

The Armidale announcement was preceded by an announcement on 27 July that Settlement Services International had been awarded a contract to provide settlement services to refugees and humanitarian entrants under the Commonwealth’s Government new Humanitarian SettlementProgram (HSP) in NSW Regional, which covers northern NSW. That contract followed a competitive tendering process that began in September 2016. This means that SSI will manage Newcastle, Coffs Harbour and now Armidale,

I wondered how Settlement Services International meshed with Northern Settlement Services. Digging a little, I found that Northern Settlement Services is a member of SSI and part of the the NSW Settlement Partnership (NSP). Led by SSI, the NSP is a consortium that delivers settlement services in agreed areas of NSW, as of July 1, 2015 until June 30, 2018, under the Department of Social Services’ Settlement Services Program (SSP). Presumably some form of collaboration will be involved in Armidale delivery. 

There has been a fair bit of criticism of NSW co-ordinator general for refugee resettlement Peter Shergold over the failure to resettle refugees in regional areas, as well as the lags that have occurred in Armidale’s case. Reading the Guardian report, I suspect he has been caught between a rock and a hard place. I quote in part::

"NSW co-ordinator general for refugee resettlement Peter Shergold told a resettlement conference in Sydney that efforts to help settle refugees in rural and regional areas would ease pressure on Fairfield and neighbouring Sydney councils. 

He said NSW and Australia’s refugee intakes were “eminently manageable”. NSW took more than half of the additional intake of Syrian and Iraqi refugees, in addition to its regular refugee resettlement program. 

Refugees made up a tiny percentage – 0.14% - of population growth in NSW, Shergold said.  

“But refugees don’t just distribute across NSW. In this last year, relatively few refugees have gone to Wagga, or Albury or Coffs Harbour, or even to Newcastle or Wollongong. To a very large extent these additional refugees have come to western Sydney… they’ve come to Fairfield. That’s the challenge.”  

Shergold said the issues facing Fairfield City Council were “acute”, and that a broader spread of resettlement would ease pressure in that area, and, critically, assist refugees in finding employment.  

“What refugees want is a job. And that has been the most challenging, helping refugees do what they want to do most, which is get employment. 

Armidale Campus, New England Institute of TAFE,  location of TAFE NSW's new digital hub

Shergold welcomed the Armidale announcement, saying the regional city had the necessary infrastructure and support services already in place to help refuges. 

“This decision has the potential to boost Armidale’s local economy, create new business and most of all, become a template for the kind of Australian mateship the world needs to see.”

Now that approval has been given for this group of refugees to come to Armidale, groups in both Tamworth and Glen Innes can be expected to redouble their efforts to achieve similar outcomes for their towns. 

Links 

• Guardian Iraqi and Syrian refugees will be settled in Armidale from next year
• The Armidale Express The federal government has finally recognised Armidale as a suitable refugee settlement location.
• SBS 'Benefits on both sides': Armidale revealed as new home for Iraqi and Syrian refugees
• Official Press Release
• 27 July SSI release on award of contract for delivery of settlement services 
• SSI release on Armidale annoucment

Bias against the bush in Australian refugee resettlement

In November of last year I reported (From Africa's Great Lakes to Mingoola's Field of Dreams) on Mingoola's successful attempt to settle African refugee families. It had been a bit of a battle because of the belief among officials and refugee agencies that refugees had to close to support agencies and that mainly meant the city. I wrote at the time:

This business of need for adequate support services for refugees has become a major difficulty that actively impedes families moving to country areas . The need to provide adequate (ie modern) housing and support services can actually place refugees in situations where they have good housing and support services but are isolated from the surrounding community without access to work.

In February this year, Armidale was rejected as a location for Syrian refugees on the apparent grounds that the city lacked the necessary support services. I almost went ballistic on this one because the city has very good facilities and access to support.

Meantime down in Tamworth, the Syrian Refugee Project began work early in 2016 to create welcoming conditions and supports for Syrian refugees to allow them to settle in Tamworth.

By mid-April, Project representative and Multicultural Tamworth president Eddie Whitham was expressing acute frustration. Quoting from the Northern Daily Leader of 20 April, 

Mr Whitham and project chief Brian Lincoln have even been actively pursuing the issue through the available channels, but so far it has all been to no avail. 

“We have written letters and made phone calls asking what is happening and when we can expect to get some refugees to settle – so far there has been no answers coming back,” Mr Whitham said. 

“We want to see four families come to Tamworth because we are ready for them now. We could take a dozen families progressively.” 

So Tamworth is ready too, but simply can't get an answer. While all this has been going on, it appears that some 4,000 Syrian refugees have been settled in Sydney's Fairfield. This is partly a matter of refugee choices, but I am left with the uncomfortable feeling that we have a clear pattern of exclusion of non-metro options.