Abbott says no increase in numbers
Print Edition
AUSTRALIAN leader Tony Abbott said yesterday that the government would welcome a higher portion of Syrian refugees, but would not increase its annual refugee intake.
Canberra takes a hardline stance against asylum-seekers trying to reach Australia by boat, with Abbott saying on Friday that tough policies were needed to stop drownings at sea.
He said he was moved by the photographs of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi’s body washed up on a Turkish beach and was sending Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to Geneva for talks with un refugee agency unhCR, amid a growing domestic push to address the crisis.
But despite calls from opposition parties for an increase in the refugee intake, Abbott said the annual 2015-16 quota would remain at 13,750.
“We are disposed to take more people from that troubled region under our refugee and humanitarian program, and we are open to providing more financial assistance to the unhCR,” he told reporters.
He declined to specify how many more would be accepted, but said Australia took in almost 4,500 refugees from Iraq and Syria last year and “we are prepared to take significant numbers this year given the ongoing crisis and its scale.”
The focus would be on families, women and children residing in camps “on the edges of Syria,” Abbott said, particularly from persecuted minorities.
Abbott added that Australia was already gradually lifting its annual refugee intake — to 16,250 in 2017-18 and to 18,750 the following year.
Australia is due to reveal this week if it will extend its air campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq into Syria following a uS request.
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