Our government continues to claim that Australia settles more refugees than any country other than the United States. A close examination of the actual figures of several countries’ intakes of refugees tells a very different story.
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Excluding Australia’s current additional Syrian target, our country settles approximately 13,750 refugees per year. The refugee intake of many other countries is markedly higher than ours. According to the UN High Commission for Refugee figures, Australia ranks 65th in intake for that year.
Admittedly in some of these countries, intakes are crisis driven and without long-term settlement provision. This is the case in such comparatively poor countries as Jordan, Lebanon, Ecuador and Chad.
Malaysia has not signed the Refugee Convention as has Australia and yet its 2015 intake was twice that of Australia.
In comparing more permanent and formal settlement numbers Australia ranks 34th. This is well behind the generosity of comparatively wealthy countries such as Germany, Norway and Serbia and Kosovo.
Today, there are unprecedented numbers of at-risk civilians living in war zones. Australia, involved in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, warns about travelling in these countries, yet is lacking generosity in offering refuge.
Although refugees from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan are among the highest on our intake list, their numbers are little more than token in relation to many other countries.
Last September, our government announced an additional intake of Syrians. While Australia has settled only a small number of its promised 12,000 intake, Canada and New Zealand achieved their goals in a very short time. In fact, Canada has surpassed its goal.
We in Australia are so fortunate. Almost all indicators of well-being show us to be among the top 10 countries. Why do we rank so lowly in our generosity towards refugees?
However, we can hold our heads high in terms of our generous settlement support of the comparative few our country does accept. This generosity will be detailed in next week’s article.