Which refugees come to australia

The Commission welcomes the increased use of community detention but remains concerned that thousands of people are still held in closed immigration detention facilities.

While the majority of people currently held in immigration detention in Australia are asylum seekers, not all are. Other categories of people who are detained in Australia include: people who have overstayed their tourist, student or other temporary visa; people who have had their visa cancelled on character grounds and are awaiting deportation; people who are suspected of involvement with people smuggling; and non-nationals who are alleged to have been fishing in Australian territorial waters.

The Commission seeks to ensure the protection of the human rights of all people held in immigration detention. However, due to their specific vulnerabilities and the special protections accorded them under international law, the Commission has focused in its recent work on immigration detention upon the conditions and treatment of asylum seekers, refugees and children.

While in immigration detention, asylum seekers and refugees have a variety of needs, which may include torture and trauma counseling, access to family tracing services, access to legal and migration advice, interpreting and translation, health and mental health care, and access to education and recreational activities. The Commission has conducted national inquiries and site inspections focusing on the conditions and treatment of people in immigration detention across Australia.

The reports of these inquiries and inspections make recommendations to the Australian Government aimed at protecting the human rights of asylum seekers, refugees and others held in immigration detention. For photos taken during visits, click here. Asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by plane have their claims for protection assessed through the refugee status determination and complementary protection system that applies under the Migration Act. This system is described below.

For asylum seekers who have their claims processed in Australia under the system that is set out in the Migration Act, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship DIAC will make a primary assessment as to whether the asylum seeker is a refugee against the criteria set out in the Refugees Convention.

If a person is found to be a refugee, and satisfies health, identity and security requirements, they will be granted a protection visa.

In some cases, a person may not be a refugee, but may nevertheless face significant human rights abuses, such as torture, if returned to his or her country of origin. If a person is found to be owed complementary protection, and satisfies health, identity and security requirements, he or she will be granted a protection visa.

And in some exceptional circumstances they can seek Ministerial intervention to allow them to remain in Australia on other humanitarian or compassionate grounds. Other top countries of origin referred to countries in include the Democratic Republic of the Congo 20, , Iraq 11, , Somalia 10, and Myanmar 9, Australia decides the size and regional composition of its resettlement program taking into account information on global resettlement needs and priorities from the UNHCR, the views of stakeholders including states and territories, and by considering the views of the Australian community.

The Minister determines the number of places to be allocated including the regions, nationalities and ethnic or religious groups that will be the focus of the program each year.

The following table shows the number of offshore Convention refugees by country of birth resettled to Australia in — Since July , the Government has allocated a nominal 12 per cent of the refugee category allocation of the offshore program to Woman at Risk subclass visas. This visa subclass is for females who are subject to persecution or are registered as being of concern to the UNHCR.

They must also be living outside their home country, not have the protection of a male relative, and be in danger of victimisation, harassment or serious abuse because of their gender. The majority of boats carrying asylum seekers to Australia depart from Indonesia, primarily because of its close geographical proximity to Australia.

Though there are varying estimates of the number of refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia, UNHCR estimates that Indonesia hosts approximately 13, asylum seekers and refugees as at 29 February up from 9, in mid As at February , more than 4, people were detained, including women and children.

They are kept in 13 immigration detention centres and some 20 makeshift detention facilities across Indonesia. Source for calendar years — Departmental advice provided to the Parliamentary Library in ; source for financial years — Answers to questions at Budget Estimates hearings; [75] transcript of interview with the Immigration Minister.

Though resettlement of UNHCR referred refugees from Indonesia has substantially increased over the last decade, in November , the Government announced that it would only resettle refugees annually from Indonesia in future and no one who registered with UNHCR on or after 1 July In —10, Australia granted visas to refugees awaiting resettlement in Malaysia. All were to refugees from Myanmar.

Of these, the vast majority were from Myanmar. On 25 July the Australian and Malaysian governments signed an Arrangement which provided for the transfer from Australia to Malaysia of up to asylum seekers and for Australia to accept 4, additional refugees from Malaysia 1, over four consecutive years commencing — However, the additional 4, places would be drawn from the existing annual Humanitarian Programme quota. Thus, in —12 Australia granted 1, visas to refugees awaiting resettlement in Malaysia, and another 1, in — During the period 1 February to 31 January , Australia resettled refugees from Malaysia and granted an additional SHP visas to persons in Malaysia.

Article 1A 2 of the Refugee Convention. This requires an assessment of the nature of any family or social ties the applicant has in Australia. Migration Regulations , Schedule 2, Subclass , criterion The application form for a Refugee subclass visa states that the requirements for the visa are that the applicant is living outside their home country; and subject to persecution in their home country; and in need of resettlement: DIBP, Application for an Offshore Humanitarian visa Form , DIBP website.

Migration Act , Federal Register of Legislation website. P Dutton, Restoring integrity to refugee intake , media release, 12 May For example, family members of refugees who arrived in Australia by plane, or arrived by boat prior to 13 August , or were granted one of the five offshore refugee visas.

S Morrison, Honouring our promise to provide more resettlement places to offshore humanitarian applicants , media release, 6 March Note that the Government reduced the number of refugees it would resettle in —15 from 7, to 6, but increased the number of SHP places from 4, places to 5, places: S Morrison, Stopping the boats to help Iraqis and Syrians , media release, op.

Family members of boat arrivals who arrived on or after 13 August are currently ineligible to apply. S Morrison, Stopping the boats to help Iraqis and Syrians , op. In —13 only SHP visas were granted due largely to the large numbers of protection visas granted onshore. S Morrison, 20, places for those most in need of protection , media release, 13 May Regulations Note that out of this caseload, five people were granted Partner subclass visas.

S Morrison, Changes to resettlement another blow to people smugglers , media release, 18 November Note that eight of these people were born in Malaysia to Burmese refugees. J Gillard, Transcript of joint press conference , Canberra, 13 October Back to main Face the Facts page All people are entitled to protection of their human rights, including the right to seek asylum, regardless of how or where they arrive in Australia.

Our role The Commission undertakes extensive work in the area of Australian law, policy and practice relating to asylum seekers, refugees and immigration detention. Find out more about our work in this area. Most people do not wish to leave the homes, families, friends and communities that they know and love. Under both the UN Refugee Convention and Australian law, the right to refugee protection is not given to anyone strongly suspected of having committed a crime against peace, a war crime, a crime against humanity or a serious non-political crime outside their country of refuge, or anyone guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Through community service providers, the Government also provides limited assistance to this group to meet their basic needs, such as assisting people to access health and social services. Not every person seeking asylum in the community is eligible for support under these programs. People who are not eligible receive no Government financial assistance. They want to work and be self-reliant, but often find it difficult, due to a combination of factors, including temporary visa status, limited understanding of how to find work in Australia, lack of recognition of overseas qualifications and limited English language skills with little to no support to learn or improve English until they have been recognised as refugees.

When refugees arrive in Australia through the Humanitarian Program, they arrive as permanent residents and can immediately access income support payments in the same way as any other Australian permanent resident. They also receive some support specific to their needs such as access to caseworkers, help finding housing and English classes to help them become independent members of the community as quickly as possible.

Australia has a long history of humanitarian resettlement, providing safety to more than , people since World War II. Refugees make an important contribution to Australia in many areas including social engagement, workforce participation, business ownership and volunteering within our communities. Most families from refugee backgrounds are able to adjust effectively over time and generate substantial economic and social benefit.

The Centre for Policy Development, for example, reports that in Australia, refugees are more than twice as likely to establish their own businesses compared to the broader population. Many of Australia's successful and respected citizens have been refugees, having fled their home country to escape persecution. Learn more about how Red Cross works with migrants in transition. Learn about human trafficking and forced labour. We can talk with your school, workplace or community group about why people seek safety.

Refugee and asylum seeker facts. A father and son from Myanmar share a moment of happy relief after reaching the safety of a camp on the Bangladesh border. Is it illegal to come to Australia by boat and seek asylum? All people who arrive here by boat without a valid visa are subject to mandatory detention. Do all people seeking asylum come to Australia by boat? Many people arrive by plane with a valid visa then claim asylum while they are here.