QUEER REFUGEE AND ASYLUM SEEKER PEERS
QRASP is a growing community of LGBTQI+ refugees and people seeking asylum, a peer led social support group that meets regularly for activities, excursions, workshops and trainings, referrals, connections, networking, and emotional and practical support, and a “queer family” for both QRASP members and their friends and allies. QRASP is based in Melbourne and has members across Victoria.
An active committee of QRASP members guides the activities of the group, and all members are welcome and supported to participate in planning days and sessions. Many Coloured Sky funds QRASP activities, employs the group’s Peer Support Worker, and provides capacity building support and an office and meeting space for group activities.
LGBTQI asylum seekers wanting to join this group can email the address below.
BASECAMP
Many Coloured Sky’s office and meeting rooms in Melbourne were established immediately after Melbourne’s extended COVID lockdown in 2020, and one of the key reasons for this was to provide a home and place of refuge and support for queer refugees and people seeking asylum. Basecamp offers drop-in activities with meals, access to computers, printers and the internet, support from volunteers to complete forms and applications, conversational English classes, workshops, and the opportunity for those in need to take home donated items of food, toiletries and cosmetics, and other goodies. Basecamp is also the place where QRASP members can get face-to-face support and referral from our Peer Support Officer, or access pro bono case support, legal support and other crucial services from Many Coloured Sky volunteers and partner organisations.
TRAINING AND CAPACITY BUILDING FOR QRASP
Many Coloured Sky and QRASP have worked closely together to develop a capacity building plan for QRASP that enables and supports queer asylum seekers and refugees as leaders, advocates and support workers. This comprehensive plan continues to evolve and grow as QRASP itself grows, and includes training and support for QRASP to incorporate as an independent organisation, to facilitate programs and activities, to provide one-to-one and group peer support, to build connections and networks with service providers, and to access funding and other resources.
ADVOCACY
LGBTQI+ people seeking protection in Australia as refugees face multiple hurdles as a result of discriminatory legislation and policy, personal histories of trauma and victimisation, racism, homophobia and transphobia in the Australian community, poverty and lack of opportunity. Many Coloured Sky supports QRASP to be heard and uses its resources and networks to advocate for change on multiple levels. We do this through dialogue with governments and Australian leaders, awareness raising in relevant community service sectors and in the Australian community, promotion of good practice, attendance in interviews and engagements QRASP members may have with government departments, and building the skills, resources and networks of QRASP members to be heard, respected and to lead change.
In late 2022 we met with Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and presented a range of our concerns to him. These are summarised in the document linked HERE -
QUEER REFUGEE AND ASYLUM SEEKER SERVICES NETWORK
Many Coloured Sky engages with services and organisations that work with asylum seekers, refugees and newly arrived communities and services for LGBTQI communities so that they can better understand, support and address the needs of queer asylum seekers and refugees in Australia. We aim to ensure that LGBTQI services, settlement services and programs and services for asylum seekers and refugees are welcoming, inclusive and relevant for queer asylum seekers, through comprehensive training, the provision of tools and strategies for reviewing and improving service delivery, and via the Queer Refugee and Asylum Seeker Services Network (QRASSN), a regular online meeting of services from both sides of the LGBTQI+ and refugee / asylum seeker services intersection, as well as relevant organisations from legal, health, employment, housing and other sectors. QRASSN aims to build referral pathways, create new partnerships and activities that address the complex needs of queer asylum seekers, and advocate for change.
Many Coloured Sky’s Peer Support Worker co-chairs QRASSN along with a representative from Uniting Victoria Tasmania’s Asylum Seeker Program, and provides a stipend to any QRASP participants who want to attend meetings.
Peer Support Worker Manu Kailom
COVID AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE
During Melbourne’s extended COVID lockdown in 2020, Many Coloured Sky began providing emergency support to queer refugees and asylum seekers, including shopping vouchers, data / internet support and food drop-offs. We were supported in this by a number of generous donors, particularly Igniting Change, who have become a key supporter of our work.
While people seeking asylum continue to be discriminated against in legislation and policy, and while those who are LGBTQI+ may be doubly vulnerable, we recognise that COVID lockdowns are not the only reason why some of our members may need direct support, and we endeavour to meet those needs via a network of partners, referral organisations and direct support.
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Find our “You Are Welcome Here” posters and other resources HERE
