Australia cuts back on African refugees

SYDNEY – Australia has slashed the number of African refugees admitted into the country, partly because many have problems settling into the community, the government said yesterday.

Over the past two years the intake of Africans has been cut from 70 per cent of the total of 13 000 refugees to just 30 per cent, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews told reporters. The revelation was immediately condemned as bordering on racism by refugee rights groups.”It’s not on a basis of a race as such,” Andrews said.”It’s simply on the basis of whether or not people can settle in Australia.I don’t see much point, if you are having problems, then adding to those problems by continuing to bring more people in.”The number of African refugees accepted had also been cut because the UN refugee agency had advised that the need for resettlement of Africans had eased, the minister said.Most of the problems in Australia centred on refugees from Sudan, he said.Sudan’s Darfur region is in the grip of conflict and famine which have left at least 200 000 people dead and two million displaced.”It seems to be largely around the Sudanese, that’s true.Not exclusively but certainly largely around the Sudanese, particularly in the major cities,” he told commercial radio.Andrews gave no details of the problems, but his spokeswoman cited media reports of serious crimes involving Sudanese.The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told the national AAP news agency that the acceptance of refugees should be based on their need for protection, not their ability to integrate.”UNHCR is not aware of any empirical evidence that suggests there are integration difficulties associated with Sudanese compared with any other comparatively newly arrived group of refugees,” a UNHCR spokeswoman said.”UNHCR hopes that the doors will remain open to refugees from any part of the world on the basis of their need for protection, not on the basis of race, religion, nationality or perceptions about their ability to integrate.”Police had previously noted that Sudanese were “under-represented in crime statistics,” she said.The chairman of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria state, Phong Nguyen, said the refugee programme should be based on need and the greatest need was in Africa.”Selecting refugees on perceptions of their capacity to integrate borders on racism,” he said.Marion Le of the Independent Council for Refugee Advocacy said Africans were not receiving adequate support, pointing to a case in which 18 Sudanese are reportedly living in a two-bedroom house in the capital Canberra.”Housing is an enormous problem.I’m surprised there hasn’t been a lot more problems with violence when you have people living in overcrowded situations,” she said.Nampa-AFPThe revelation was immediately condemned as bordering on racism by refugee rights groups.”It’s not on a basis of a race as such,” Andrews said.”It’s simply on the basis of whether or not people can settle in Australia.I don’t see much point, if you are having problems, then adding to those problems by continuing to bring more people in.”The number of African refugees accepted had also been cut because the UN refugee agency had advised that the need for resettlement of Africans had eased, the minister said.Most of the problems in Australia centred on refugees from Sudan, he said.Sudan’s Darfur region is in the grip of conflict and famine which have left at least 200 000 people dead and two million displaced.”It seems to be largely around the Sudanese, that’s true.Not exclusively but certainly largely around the Sudanese, particularly in the major cities,” he told commercial radio.Andrews gave no details of the problems, but his spokeswoman cited media reports of serious crimes involving Sudanese.The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told the national AAP news agency that the acceptance of refugees should be based on their need for protection, not their ability to integrate.”UNHCR is not aware of any empirical evidence that suggests there are integration difficulties associated with Sudanese compared with any other comparatively newly arrived group of refugees,” a UNHCR spokeswoman said.”UNHCR hopes that the doors will remain open to refugees from any part of the world on the basis of their need for protection, not on the basis of race, religion, nationality or perceptions about their ability to integrate.”Police had previously noted that Sudanese were “under-represented in crime statistics,” she said.The chairman of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria state, Phong Nguyen, said the refugee programme should be based on need and the greatest need was in Africa.”Selecting refugees on perceptions of their capacity to integrate borders on racism,” he said.Marion Le of the Independent Council for Refugee Advocacy said Africans were not receiving adequate support, pointing to a case in which 18 Sudanese are reportedly living in a two-bedroom house in the capital Canberra.”Housing is an enormous problem.I’m surprised there hasn’t been a lot more problems with violence when you have people living in overcrowded situations,” she said.Nampa-AFP