Tony Abbott opens door to Syrian conflict refugees

The image of a drowned toddler is not related to the true humanitarian need in Syria, senator Cory Bernardi says.

Liberal minister Simon Birmingham.

The refugee crisis in Europe is becoming an “opportunistic cycle” that is masking the true humanitarian need of persecuted Syrians, Liberal senator Cory Bernardi believes.

During debate on a Senate motion on Syrian refugees, Senator Bernardi accused Greens leader Richard Di Natale of using the image of a drowned Syrian toddler to evoke emotion.

Senator Bernardi said the boy’s death was not related to the humanitarian crisis in Syria because the family had been living in Turkey for years and were in no danger.

“The father sent them on that boat so the father could get dental treatment,” he told the Senate on Monday.

Senator Di Natale earlier said the boy had become the human face of the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Syria and implored the government to accept an additional 20,000 refugees.

He labelled Prime Minister Tony Abbott a coward and said the government would rather drop bombs on Syrians than pay attention to the plight of people who needed humanitarian assistance.

The Greens senator withdrew that comment after objection from Senator Bernardi.

The government is expected to decide within days whether to accept an official request from the United States to expand Australian air operations from Iraq into Syria to help combat Islamic State.

Mr Abbott has announced Australia would take more Syrian refugees within the existing humanitarian intake quota.

Senator Bernardi said Australia needed to maintain a measured humanitarian program, and already had the largest intake per capita in the world.

He is concerned about a growing trade in fake Syrian passports and Pakistanis ditching their documents and pretending to be from the war-ravaged country.

“Of course there is a problem, but you can not just open your borders and allow any number of people come through without the checks,” he said.

“Many of these people have been very safe, working and housed in places like Turkey for years.” Senator Bernardi said the problem should also be shouldered by Middle Eastern countries.

“This seems to me to be becoming an opportunistic cycle which is masking the true humanitarian need which is the responsibility of western nations,” he said.

Labor wants urgent intake

Labor has called on the government to impose a “one-off, emergency increase” to the permanent refugee intake to accommodate 10,000 Syrians and $100 million injection of foreign aid to support displaced people in the Middle East.

The opposition today proposed a bipartisan meeting to discuss their plan, saying the refugees were “caught up in a conflict not of their making” and formed part of the largest humanitarian need since the Second World War.

The bipartisan meeting proposed by Labor would include federal, state, territory and community leaders.

Opposition immigration spokesman Richard Marles acknowledged there would be a “real cost” associated with accepting the refugees, but noted several state governments had offered their assistance.

“This is a significant contribution but could be offset by cost sharing with the states; community sponsored visas; family reunification visas and the provision of work rights. If we work together, 10,000 places can be provided to people who desperately need our help,” Mr Marles said in a joint statement with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and deputy leader Tanya Plibersek.

“Australia should work with the UNHCR to determine who is placed. Priority would be given to people displaced from the Syria and Iraq conflicts, who are currently in refugee camps in neighbouring countries and Europe.

“Tony Abbott needs to demonstrate genuine compassion and leadership and provide real assistance to refugees displaced by the conflict in the Middle East. We believe simply allocating existing places to the Syrian refugee crisis is not taking real action.”

Mr Marles rejected the suggestion the government should assign temporary refugee places or accept asylum-seekers on the basis of their professional skills.

The $100 million aid package would provide “lifesaving assistance” to the millions of people living refugee camps in countries neighbouring Syria including Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, he said.

In parliament, Tony Abbott said the government would consider its response to the crisis after it hearing from Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, who is meeting officials in Europe.

The Prime Minister said Australia had already accepted 4500 refugees from Syria and Iraq – accounting for 30 per cent of the humanitarian intake – and last year donated $100 million in aid to the Middle East.

Mr Abbott also intends to meet community representatives this week to ensure refugees coming to Australia integrate well into the community after they arrive.

“We have already provided a strong humanitarian response to the problems in the Middle East and that response will be stronger within coming days,” he told parliament.

“It is obvious to all members of this house, it would be self-evident to Australians that we cannot save the world singlehandedly but we will always do what we can to help.”

Greens leader Richard Di Natale called for an immediate intake of 20,000 refugees and a $150 million donation to the UN refugee agency.

“Tony Abbott wants you to believe that dropping bombs on Syria would be a heroic demonstration of strength, while he has always pretended that accepting refugees is a sign of weakness,” Senator Di Natale said.

“We show real strength when we offer protection to those fleeing from Syria’s nightmare, and when we use our diplomatic offices to help support the tentative efforts towards local and regional ceasefires that have emerged in recent months.”

Today New Zealand announced they will open the door to 750 refugees from Syria (150 from within the quota, 600 outside of it) over the next two and a half years — a move expected to cost an extra $48.8 million ($AU44.1 million).

Liberal minister Simon Birmingham.

Lib MP backs SA asylum offer

Liberal minister Simon Birmingham has offered to work with the South Australian government to grant temporary refuge to hundreds of Syrian asylum-seekers in the state, as Victoria also volunteered to “stump up” and accept more refugees from the Middle East.

South Australian premier Jay Weatherill has called on the federal government to issue temporary safe-haven visas for Syrian refugees to arrive in his state, urging every state and territory to help people fleeing the war-torn country.

“Where’s the humanity in bombing? And we’re part of that or being asked to be part of that … but at the same time not offering a humane solution and giving them a safe place they can come because they’re fleeing that sort of violence,” Mr Weatherill told ABC Radio.

“No citizen of the world seeing this awful suffering could do anything other than offer to help and that’s what we should do as Australian and as South Australians.”

Mr Weatherill said he and NSW Premier Mike Baird would make an announcement about Syria’s refugee crisis later today.

Senator Birmingham said the Syrian refugee crisis required a “unique” approach given the sheer scale and complexity of the conflict.

“I would be very willing to work with Premier Weatherill and talk through what options he is looking at in developing on this issue,” the Assistant Education Minister told ABC Radio.

“When you look at the scale, when you look at the nature of the conflict between Daesh and the death cult there and the conflict between the brutality of the Assad regime, you can have little doubts about the merits of people fleeing that conflict in those circumstances and indeed the scale of that problem is something the world hasn’t seen for a long time and it will require unique approaches and different approaches.”

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said his state was also “ready to stump up and to step up”.

“To provide a second chance in life to those who, through what is an international humanitarian crisis, need our outstretched hand of friendship,” Mr Andrews said in Melbourne.

“The total humanitarian intake needs to increase and it needs to increase significantly.”

Environment Minister Greg Hunt said Australia should continue to be involved in the humanitarian response “but on an expanded basis”.

“What ISIS and Daesh are doing is something of an unspeakable nature — war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, all of the very worst examples of organised, systematic not just violence but eradication of populations — this is something that cannot stand and will not be allowed to stand and we are a part of that and we will continue to be part of it,” he said.

“In terms of the humanitarian response to this immense human tragedy we will be, we already are, and we will continue to be involved in this but on an expanded basis.”

— With AAP

Liberal minister Josh Frydenberg.

‘Follow Howard on refugees’

Liberal minister Josh Frydenberg has urged the government to consider increasing Australia’s humanitarian intake, suggesting Tony Abbott accept guidance from John Howard’s acceptance of Kosovar refugees.

Australia will take more refugees from war-ravaged Syria, with the Prime Minister pledging to do “the right thing” and help the UN respond to the humanitarian crisis gripping Europe as millions of desperate people flee the conflict.

Mr Abbott said any increase in refugees from the Middle East would come under existing quotas that are fixed at 13,750 this year and next year, before increasing to 18,770 by 2019.

Mr Frydenberg, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, today said the Howard government’s response to the crisis in Kosovo could be “a bit of a guide to us”.

“Firstly we should focus on families and women and children and we already do that but I think we should be doing that in terms of our additional measures given what we’ve seen now in Europe,” the Assistant Treasurer told Sky News.

“Maybe what John Howard did in 1999 with the Kosovars could be a bit of a guide for us. He took 4000 at that time. Some of those went home, but he did a humanitarian response and shelter for people who were fleeing persecution.”

Mr Abbott, when asked about Mr Frydenberg’s comments, said: “That’s exactly what we’re doing.

“Last year the conflict in Syria and Iraq was responsible for some 30 per cent of our overall intake. The overall intake is going up to 18,000 in the next couple of years.

“This is one of the dividends of stopping the boats. Because we’ve stopped the boats, it’s the Australian government which is now able to select the people who come in under our refugee and humanitarian intake; under the former government it was the people smugglers.”

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese insisted the government take Syrian refugees “over and above the existing humanitarian intake”.

“Tony Abbott can’t say we’re doing our bit and then in the next sentence say there’ll be actually not a single additional refugee taken as a result of a government decision. That’s not doing our bit,” Mr Albanese said.

“Our European partners Germany are doing an extraordinary amount and I think that Australia should certainly do more. They should listen to other world leaders, people like Pope Francis and the statements that he has made, that are so strong, and do our bit.

“Anyone who has a look at what the situation is knows that we need to do more, not just say, we’re going to displace some people and take Syrian refugees in place of people who would have otherwise been accepted here in Australia.”

Tony Abbott has pledged to do “the right thing”.

Abbott opens door to Syria refugees

Australia will take more refugees from war-ravaged Syria, with Tony Abbott pledging to do “the right thing” and help the UN ­respond to the humanitarian crisis gripping Europe as millions of desperate people flee the conflict.

The Prime Minister said Australia would also consider increasing financial aid to the UN refugee agency as it struggles to deal with people who have been displaced by the fighting, including about 350,000 people who have ­entered Europe this year.

With the national security committee of cabinet due to consider expanding airstrikes to Syria tomorrow, Mr Abbott last night dispatched Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to Geneva to meet with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, to discuss what more Australia could do to assist with the migration ­crisis arising from the conflict.

“Australia is a country which has always taken its international obligations seriously,” Mr Abbott said. “Australia is a country which has always done what we can to ­assist when people are in trouble around the world, and we certainly are not going to change our character now.”

While the government will increase its intake of Syrian refugees, it will not increase the overall size of its humanitarian resettlement program, sparking calls from Labor, the Greens and migration advocates for it to do more.

Refugee groups and the Greens demanded the government ­urgently resettle at least 20,000 Syrians, with Liberal MPs and premiers including Mike Baird from NSW also urging more be done to assist those fleeing persecution.

Mr Abbott said any increase in refugees from the Middle East would come under existing quotas that are fixed at 13,750 this year and next year, before increasing to 18,770 by 2019.

“No, we are proposing to take more people from this region as part of our very substantial commitment to the UNHCR,” he said. “Our focus will be on families and women and children, ­especially of persecuted minorities, who have sought refuge in camps neighbouring Syria and Iraq.”

The government accepted 4400 Syrians and Iraqis in the 2014-15 financial year, and has so far pledged to accept 4500 Syrians over the next three years.

The UN Human Rights Commissioner estimates more than four million people have left Syria since war broke out in 2011, with an additional 7.6 million people displaced within the country.

In Europe this week, Austria and Germany agreed to take thousands more refugees who had been prevented from leaving Hungary, with an estimated 10,000 having crossed the Austrian border within 48 hours.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he was willing to take 15,000 Syrians and that he hoped to get authority next month to launch airstrikes in Syria.

Revealing that he had been moved by the “horrific” image of a Syrian boy washed on to the shores of a Turkish beach this week, Mr ­Abbott said he believed the ­response was in line with the sentiment of most Australians. “The government of Australia, I am sure representing the best instincts of the people of Australia, is prepared to do more in the face of this growing humanitarian ­crisis,” he said.

Bill Shorten welcomed Mr ­Abbott’s “belated recognition” that the country had a role to play in the unfolding crisis, but said the government should do more.

“Labor’s policy is to increase Australia’s refugee intake to 27,000 — I want to ensure this includes more refugees from Syria,” the Opposition Leader said.

Mr Shorten said he believed Australia could immediately increase the number of refugees fleeing Syria but did not have a final number in mind.

He said Labor would support moves by the government to increase its intake of refugees.

“I think everyone now wants the Prime Minister to act in a more humane fashion and do something here, and do our bit together,” he said.

Mr Shorten and his immigration spokesman, Richard Marles, have also promised a Labor government would provide an extra $450 million to the UNHCR.

Since 2011, the government has provided $155m in humanitarian assistance for the Syrian crisis, and so far this year has provided $100m in humanitarian ­assistance for the Middle East.

Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said the rest of the world had been “urgently acting” to help refugees in need while Mr Abbott had made Australia “an international pariah” in its approach to asylum-seeker policy.

“Australia is actually not offering any more assistance to people than we had already committed to,” she said. “If this crisis isn’t going to lift Australia’s refugee intake, what will?”

Migration Council of Australia chief executive Paul Power said the government needed to provide a combination of ­increased aid and a larger number of placements.

“We need to provide refugees with hope that they can get the assistance that they need,” he said.

Amnesty International Australia said Mr Dutton’s meeting with the UNHCR must result in an announcement the government will urgently resettle 20,000 Syrians refugees.

The government claims its relative effort in resettling refugees is the best in the world on a per capita basis.

This measure is based on the number of people covered by the UNHCR’s resettlement program — about 105,197 in 2014 — but ­excludes the 3.3 million refugees who registered for asylum last year but are not in the resettlement program.

Lebanon, which has a population of 4.5 million, is hosting about 1.2 million Syrian refugees.

Additional reporting: Rosie Lewis