Australia does not help refugees most in need

Wednesday, January 16, 2002 - 11:00

BY SARAH STEPHEN

Immigration minister Philip Ruddock takes great offence at the labeling of Australia's refugee policy as racist and discriminatory. In particular, Ruddock takes offence at criticism of the government's crackdown on people trying to get to Australia by boat to claim asylum. According to him, his government's actions are precisely to maintain the "integrity" of Australia's "generous" refugee program, which — he claims — targets those most in need.

However, figures developed by Andrew Solomon, a mathematics academic at Sydney's University of Technology, reveal that Australia's refugee and humanitarian program does not prioritise those most in need, and that it gives disproportionate weight to those who are from European countries.

Are European refugees, living on the borders of affluence, really those most in need of Australia's help? Most people resettled through the offshore program already have links with Australia; this connection is more significant in the selection process than their relative level of desperation or persecution.

The four largest refugee populations in the world are Palestinians (4 million), those from Afghanistan (3.6 million), Sudan (460,000) and Iraq (450,000). From Europe, the four largest refugee populations are from Croatia (315,000), Bosnia & Herzegovina (250,000), Yugoslavia (190,000) and the Russian federation (38,000) [figures from the US Committee for Refugees].

If you are a European refugee, your chances of being granted refugee status or a humanitarian visa in Australia are 14.7 times greater than if you are from the Middle East.

This calculation was worked out by dividing the number of places allocated to people from each region in Australia's humanitarian program, divided by the total number of refugees originating in each region.

For the full figures, visit Andrew Solomon's web site at <http://www.illywhacker.net/asylum>.

From Green Left Weekly, January 16, 2002.

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