refugee resettlement in australia 2013
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and Australia
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Refugee Resettlement
“ The stories of Asylum seekers are, after all, the stories of us all- parents saving their children, individuals seeking freedom and dignity and the power of the will to survive” (Acting from the Heart, 2007, p.1)
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Are Refugees and Asylum seekers the same thing?
Asylum seekers are people who flee their country of origin and are unable to return due to a well founded fear of torture and/or persecution.
Refugee is the term given to asylum seekers after they have had their claims successfully assessed and have undergone a series of checks such as Health, Security and Character checks before going on to await resettlement. Once resettled a person is no longer a refugee.
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What is resettlement, and what role does Australia play?
Resettlement is a voluntary scheme coordinated by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).
Although there are 145 signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, only 24 participate in UNHCR’s resettlement programs and accept quotas of refugees on an annual basis.
Australia has been involved in the UNHCR resettlement program since 1977.
Refugees do not have a right to be resettled and states are not legally obligated under the 1951 Refugee Convention or any other international instrument to accept refugees for resettlement.
Less than one per cent of the world’s refugees may be resettled in any given year (aph.gov.au).
Who is UNHCR, and what do they do?
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established in 1951 under the Convention and Protocol for refugees.UNHCR is a not-for-profit organisation that provides and co-ordinates international relief for refugees and displaced people, offering them protection and assistance during every stage of their ordeals, some include: Refugee registration, assistance and advice on asylum applications. Providing emergency shelter, food, water and medical care. Striving to improve refugees quality of life and future opportunities. Providing assistance with transport, documentation and essential items. Providing ongoing support and education after resettlement.
Only 3% of UNHCR’s budget comes from the UN. The remaining 97% must come from voluntary contributions from governments, corporations, and individual donors.
What is Australia’s annual quota?
Australia’s annual quota for refugee resettlement is 20000 a year, of which 12000 places are for people referred by UNHCR and 8000 are for the special humanitarian program and onshore applicants.
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Myths and facts
Myth FactThere is an orderly queue in the resettlement process
Less than 0.5% of the world’s refugees have access to anything like a queue. Research on the refugee experience highlights violence, marginalisation and unpredictability, not an orderly queue and a known future.
UNHCR resettlement programs are adequate to cope with demand
Only around 1% of the world’s refugees are resettled each year. There are only 24 signatory nations to UNHCR resettlement programs, and if all the world’s refugees were to form a queue it would take between 120 and 200 years to resettle them at the current rate.
Resettlement means the UN can decide who lives in Australia
The ultimate decision to grant any visa to Australia rests with the Department of Immigration.
Australia does its fair share to help resettle the world’s refugees
Australia does consistently rank 3rd in the world for intake of refugees for resettlement. However, this figure includes the number of refugees already within Australia (having arrived by boat or air) who are then resettled here.
IMA asylum seekers take up places of refugees from overseas
The number of convention (overseas) refugees resettled in Australia is not affected by IMAs. However, the government has chosen to link the number of visas granted to refugees within Australia to the number of SHP visas available to family members of refugees or persons persecuted and still located within their home countries.
Resettlement - what is the cost to Australia?
When refugees arrive in Australia for resettlement they can immediately access income support payments just like any other permanent Australian resident, but they do not receive higher social security benefits.
Humanitarian Settlement Services (HSS) program provides early practical support, including help finding accommodation, initial orientation and basic household goods packages. HSS clients generally finish the program in 6-12 months.
Additional services focus on building self-reliance, developing English language skills and using mainstream services.
A literature review by the Refugee Council of Australia (2010) concluded that while there may be short-term costs as refugees are resettled and adjust to their new surroundings, after successful integration they make permanent cultural, social and economic contributions. Major findings include:
Humanitarian entrants are often entrepreneurial as they establish themselves in a new environment – in the year 2000, five of Australia’s eight billionaires were people whose families had originally come to the country as refugees.
Their impact has been positive in regional and rural Australia through providing labour and stimulating economic growth and service delivery.
Available sources point to above average rates of success in education and employment for children of Humanitarian entrants.
Informal volunteering plays an important role in building social capital, and volunteers from ethnic communities provide the greater part of their services to benefit society as a whole rather than their own ethnic group.
Resettlement – what are the benefits to Australia?
Many dynamic, industrious and intelligent people were once refugees, including …
They were once refugees …
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Albert Einstein – fled Nazi Germany
Bob Marley – fled Jamaica after being shot during political violence
Karl Marx – German refugee
Mika – fled from Beirut, Lebanon
Sigmund Freud – fled Nazism in Austria
Victor Hugo – the author of Les Misérables was forced to flee France several times
Dr Karl Kruszelnicki – fled with his Polish family to Australia at two
References
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, 2012, Asylum Seekers and Refugees: Myths, Facts and Solutions, West Melbourne
Department of Immigration, 2012, Fact Sheet 66: Humanitarian Settlement Services Program, ACT
Elibritt Karlsen, 2011, Refugee resettlement to Australia: what are the facts? , ACT
Refugee Council of Australia, 2010, Economic, civic and social contributions of refugees and Humanitarian entrants – literature review, ACT
