Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Australia will take more refugees from Syria in response to the growing international crisis but it will not increase the total number of asylum seekers it accepts.
He says Australia is already doing a lot when it comes to accepting asylum seekers, and that "we take more refugees than any other through the UNHCR on a per capita basis."
But is that statement correct?
No.
According to the Refugee Council of Australia, Australia is not the world's most generous country when it comes to accepting refugees. It does not even rank in the top 20 countries.
What Mr Abbott means when he says Australia takes more refugees on a per capita basis is that Australia takes more refugees on a per capita basis through its re-settlement program.
'Resettlement' refers to the act of transferring refugees from the country in which they sought refuge to a third country that has agreed to accept them.
It is a protection mechanism that provides protection to refugees whose lives or liberty are at risk in the country in which they sought refuge first.
So, if a North Korean refugee and his family in China are facing imminent return to the country from which they fled (North Korea) they may urgently require resettlement to a resettlement country (such as USA, Canada or New Zealand) to avoid being forcibly returned to persecution.
Resettlement programs only provide places for a miniscule proportion of the global population of refugees. According to the UNHCR, in 2012 less than one per cent of the world's refugees were officially 're-settled'.
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He says Australia is already doing a lot when it comes to accepting asylum seekers, and that "we take more refugees than any other through the UNHCR on a per capita basis."
But is that statement correct?
No.
According to the Refugee Council of Australia, Australia is not the world's most generous country when it comes to accepting refugees. It does not even rank in the top 20 countries.
What Mr Abbott means when he says Australia takes more refugees on a per capita basis is that Australia takes more refugees on a per capita basis through its re-settlement program.
'Resettlement' refers to the act of transferring refugees from the country in which they sought refuge to a third country that has agreed to accept them.
It is a protection mechanism that provides protection to refugees whose lives or liberty are at risk in the country in which they sought refuge first.
So, if a North Korean refugee and his family in China are facing imminent return to the country from which they fled (North Korea) they may urgently require resettlement to a resettlement country (such as USA, Canada or New Zealand) to avoid being forcibly returned to persecution.
Resettlement programs only provide places for a miniscule proportion of the global population of refugees. According to the UNHCR, in 2012 less than one per cent of the world's refugees were officially 're-settled'.
Read more:
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