Federal politicians form group to support refugees

A Parliamentary Friends of Refugees comprising MPs and Senators will launch in Canberra on Monday. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)

By Joanna Guelas in Canberra

EXPECTATIONS are high for the federal parliament’s newly formed refugee support group.

Almost 50 senators and MPs from various parties have joined the Parliamentary Friends of Refugees group to promote fairer refugee and asylum seeker policies.

The group is positioned to play a critical role in improving Australia’s response to those seeking protection in the country, Greens senator Nick McKim says.

More than two million refugees are in urgent need of resettlement this year, according to the UN refugee agency.

The Albanese government announced in February 19,000 refugees on temporary protection or safe haven visas would be eligible for permanent visas.

It also reversed an order made by the previous government that relegated family union visas to the bottom of the processing pile.

The government faced a massive backlog of more than 864,000 migration and temporary visa applications waiting to be processed in October.

The Refugee Council of Australia backs the launch of the support group, maintaining both the Liberal-National coalition and Labor governments have shown strong support for refugee resettlement over the past 75 years.

Under the new announcement by the Albanese government, only asylum seekers who entered Australia before Operation Sovereign Borders began in 2013 are eligible to apply for permanent residency.

The border protection operation was the outcome of a 2013 federal election policy of the coalition.

People who arrived by boat after the operation came into place will never be resettled in Australia under a policy maintained by Labor.

The more than 2500 people who were found not to be owed protection by Australia are expected to leave the country.

Labor MP Kate Thwaites will chair the parliamentary group alongside Liberal Dan Tehan, Senator McKim and independent Zoe Daniel.

The group will officially launch in Canberra on Monday with guest speakers from refugee backgrounds, including Afghanistan Women’s Soccer team captain Fatima Yousufi and Refugee Council chief executive Paul Power.

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Australian Associated Press

March 16, 2023

8 Responses to Federal politicians form group to support refugees

Peter Graves says: 16 March 2023 at 12:00 pm

Now – what has happened to that Review of Visas for Afghan Local-Engaged Employees by Dr Thom, announced by Minister Wong in November on 10 November 2022 ?

Especially as Dr Thom was appointed the new chair of the Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce, on 20 February this year.

A key outstanding issue is visas for the families of those locally-engaged staff left behind in Afghanistan, after August 2021. Especially where it has resulted in splitting a family, with the father here in Australia but wife, mother and children in hiding in Afghanistan. No male relative to escort them in public, no passports, no way of getting to the border and across to relative safety in Pakistan.

Which Home Affairs has advised is the only place they will take action.

Remember that 41 of our soldiers died for the rights of Afghanistan’s people.

No One Left Behind would be a good Australian policy.

Marilyn Shepherd says: 16 March 2023 at 8:51 pm

And we continue the lie that resettlement has something to do with refugees.

fazal khan says: 16 March 2023 at 9:51 pm

12000 thousands asylum seeker are also same as the 19000 thousand asylum seekers. they are come from the same countries suffering from same conditions come at same boats,they just only suffering because of previous government curtly,11 years they been here they need permanent ASAP.#bring in the immigration minister knowledge that many people winning cases in courts against So called political motivated IAA n IAA rejected them n send them back to courts for the 2nd time those people must be allowed to apply for ROS visa.thanks

Chris Watson says: 17 March 2023 at 8:17 pm

Afghanistan cost Australian lives. While western troops were risking their lives to keep the Taliban at bay, the native Afghans just ran away or made more babies: future refugees. Afghanistan has been a major contributor to the world’s refugee population for the last 30 years or more. And as fast as one left his country, his relatives back home quickly replaced him with two more babies.

I object to Australia being used as an overflow tank for foreigners on other continents, who have not restrained their reproduction as we have done. The UN Convention on Refugees is grossly unjust to those of us who have reproduced responsibly.
If the rest of the world had kept their reproduction to two babies or fewer per woman, on average, as the people of developed countries have done, there would be NO world refugee crisis and far less cause for conflict.

Our humanitarian effort should be restricted to supplying basic education and contraception services to the women in the refugee camps and in undeveloped countries. NOT by moving big families of Africans and Asians into Australia to quadruple their consumption of the earth’s resources, to increase their waste and Australia’s carbon emissions. When they admit refugees into Australia, governments prove that they don’t care about climate change.

Peter Graves says: 18 March 2023 at 11:29 am

Harsh. Very harsh. Australia has been immeasurably favoured and improved by accepting migrants – and refugees from many wars.

Sayed says: 17 March 2023 at 10:32 pm

It is actually Parliamentary Friends of the Hazaras group. The government created this group to sideline all other ethnic groups from Afghanistan. Australia spent 20 years in Afghanistan in the Urazgan province who where Pashtun. The labor government has concentrated mainly on resettling the Hazara ethnic group because they contributed heavily to their election campaign and they have forgotten the rest of the Afghan ethnic groups. I am really disappointed at the Government to promote racial tension by its policies. The labor Government has used the Afghan refugee program to bring Hazara from Pakistan and Iran who have no connection to Afghanistan. A complete disgrace to the unfair policy of the Government.

Monir hossain says: 19 March 2023 at 5:37 pm

There needs to be fair justice for all of 31,000 refugees by boat in 2013. Thanks all

Rob says: 20 March 2023 at 2:04 pm

I believe the government is doing unfair things with 31,000 refugees. It was more than enough for 10 years waiting in limbo. If 19,000 get ROS visas why not 12,000. They are all in the same boat.

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