Is Australia generous?

Issue 

BY SARAH STEPHEN

The Coalition government claims Australia is a very generous country which takes in large numbers of refugees, and that asylum seekers arriving on our shores are simply taking advantage of that reputation.

Of the 10 countries who have UN resettlement quotas, it is true that Australia's is relatively generous, exceeded only by the US and Canada.

In 1999, Ghana, with a generous approach to granting asylum, hosted 14,600 refugees. Uganda hosted 193,000 refugees and the government provided land to resettle many.

But quotas are only a small part of the picture. Australia will only take onshore refugees as part of its overall quota (thereby displacing those it would otherwise agree to resettle), which sets it apart from all other countries, many of which provide much more substantial assistance to refugees without the aid of quotas.

Australia is the sixth largest country in the world, with one of the lowest population densities in the world, far lower than environmental limits dictate. The UNHCR's 1999 figures refute Australia's claim of generosity.

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