Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has defended his government’s tough asylum policies at a United Nations refugee summit in NY.
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While here, Mr Turnbull will attend other meetings on refugees including a Barack Obama-led summit on Tuesday, and a meeting on ending human slavery chaired by Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May. It’s substantially increased up to 18,000 plus 12,000 from the Syrian conflict zone.
And that bolstered intake will now include Central American refugees currently housed in camps in Costa Rica – a pledge described by one observer as Mr Turnbull’s “price of entry” to the summit. However, another theory suggests a potential quid pro quo arrangement, which could see the United States resettle refugees stuck in Australia’s offshore detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru.
The parallels between those in Costa Rica and those on Manus and Nauru are self-evident: both enterprises were conceived to discourage refugees from embarking on risky journeys to a country where they will be able to rebuild shattered lives.
“As leaders, we are responsible for helping those who are most vulnerable, and restoring the integrity of migration systems”.
During a speech to the United Nations on Tuesday, Nauru’s Justice Minister David Adeang called on other countries “to assist in finding durable resettlement solutions” for the 942 refugees on the island.
“But the reality is that 65 million people are displaced and migration needs to be orderly and managed effectively so that we can prioritise those most in need”, he told The Australian Financial Review.
Those comments had particular resonance in the U.S., where terrorist attacks have prompted widespread public questioning of American immigration system – especially Muslim immigration.
Save the Children CEO Paul Ronalds said Turnbull should have “used his time on the world stage to announce an increase to Australia’s humanitarian intake, which many organizations believe should be lifted to at least 30,000 refugees per year by 2018-19 to reflect the growing global need and Australia’s capacity”. “This multi-year commitment will give greater certainty to aid delivery organisations and facilitate longer-term planning”.
“Allow public trust to erode and the mutual trust that binds us will similarly falter”, he will say. “As leaders, we must always choose laws and policies that develop strength and unity over weakness and division”.
Mr Turnbull told reporters in NY that an increase in the humanitarian intake relied on border security.
Malcolm Turnbull has boosted his government’s humanitarian refugee program as Britain began embracing elements of Australia’s stance which combines a hardline approach with compassion.
Critics of Australia’s offshore detention centres point to reports of assaults, sexual abuse and self-harm as well as the fact that people found to be refugees are stuck there indefinitely with Australia refusing to resettle them.
Malcolm Turnbull has urged world leaders to look to Australia’s uncompromising border protection policies as a model for regaining control of global refugee flows and to hold their own political systems together. But you can not do that and frankly public opinion will not accept a generous humanitarian program, a substantial migration program, unless the government is seen to be in command of its borders.
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Peter Dutton says Australia is in “discussions” in a bid to resettle people found to be refugees.
