Australia welcomes one millionth refugee
Australia has welcomed its one millionth refugee, with the government calling the milestone an “opportunity to reflect” on the positive impact.
Australia has officially welcomed its one millionth refugee since the end of World War II.
The Department of Home Affairs announced the long-awaited milestone had been reached on Friday.
“Australia has just granted its one millionth refugee visa since the end of the Second World War,” Home Affairs wrote in a Facebook post.
“In the last 10 years alone, people from around the world have found safety and a new beginning in Australia. They have enriched the Australian community, added to our social fabric and strengthened our economy.
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“The one-millionth grant is more than a number. It represents a million stories of families rebuilding their lives in a country where they can belong and contribute to a vibrant shared future.
“Australia’s world-class settlement services and not-for-profit organisations have played a key role in helping refugee and humanitarian entrants settle in Australia.
“Today is an opportunity to reflect on and to acknowledge the positive impact refugees and humanitarian entrants have made in Australian sport, business, philanthropy, public life and more.”
Australia’s humanitarian resettlement program started in 1947, with more than 170,000 refugees from Eastern Europe arriving over five years.
“It was not a purely humanitarian impulse: Australia needed labour, and thousands of displaced people provided it,” UNSW’s Daniel Ghezelbash and Jane McAdam wrote in The Conversation.
“It was a win-win, ultimately transforming Australia into one of the wealthiest, most successful and most multicultural countries in the world.”
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The Vietnam War saw another large influx, with around 100,000 arriving over 10 years, while other conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, East Timor, Lebanon and Sudan also drove waves of refugees over the following decades.
“In the 1970s, when boats of Vietnamese asylum seekers began arriving in Australia’s north, Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser actively encouraged ordinary Australians to understand they deserved protection, humane treatment and fair processes,” they wrote.
“In the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing in 1989, Prime Minister Bob Hawke spontaneously announced that more than 40,000 Chinese students could remain in Australia if they were too afraid to return home … It wasn’t always an easy sell. Yet, these leaders understood that protecting refugees was more than a legal obligation – it was a reflection of our national character.”
Australia’s refugee program is currently set at 20,000 places in 2024-25.
The government’s commitment includes 26,500 dedicated places allocated to Afghan nationals between 2021-22 and 2025-26.
“The global humanitarian environment is shifting due to several factors, geopolitical repositioning including multiple international crises and the US’ suspension of humanitarian visa and cuts to foreign aid programs,” Home Affairs said in a discussion paper on the 2025-26 humanitarian program.
“Demand for places under the humanitarian program is unprecedented, following record levels of forced displacement, and is expected to continue due to global instability.
“Australia has limited capacity for humanitarian resettlement and cannot resettle all who apply for a refugee and humanitarian visa.
“There are currently over 300,000 applicants on hand (of which over 270,000 are offshore applicants) under the humanitarian program.”
The vast majority of those granted refugee status have come from the offshore component — those who apply for asylum while outside Australia.
According to the Department of Home Affairs, the offshore component of the humanitarian program now prioritises three major regions — the Middle East, such as Iraq, Syria and Iran; Asia, such as Myanmar and Afghanistan; and Africa, such as Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.
The Australian government gives priority to applications from those assessed as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and referred to Australia for resettlement, immediate family members of refugees already in Australia, and members of minority groups.
Rebecca Eckart, director of policy and research at the Refugee Council of Australia, told SBS earlier this month that the one million milestone was a reminder of the diverse individual stories that make up Australian history.
“Today, there’s millions of people who are connected to our humanitarian program, either directly or through their parents, grandparents, or great grandparents. It’s a really momentous time,” she said.
Originally published as Australia welcomes one millionth refugee
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