Australia is being labelled one of the world’s leading countries for refugee resettlement, according to new figures from the UNHCR.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees annual Global Trends report found the world now has a record 70.8 million people displaced.
An analysis of this report, conducted by the Pew Research Center, cites Australia’s resettlement of 12,700 people as among the highest worldwide.
But Sydney University Professor Mary Crock said the resettlement program must be viewed in context.
“One might argue that the modest program that we have is a national attempt to create a picture of generosity in Australia,” the immigration analyst said.
“[But] relative to the real issue of refugees all around the world – it is not so impressive.”
Canada surpassed the United States for the first time to resettle the most refugees in the world last year, based on official government statistics provided to UNHCR.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s welcoming approach to refugees saw Canada resettle 28,100 people. This included priority resettlement for Syrian refugees.
The US resettled 22,900 refugees, down from 33,000 the previous year, according to the Pew Research Center.
The think tank noted this decline in the United States could be tied to policy changes under President Donald Trump.
“The sharp drop in US refugee resettlement is in part due to the Trump administration’s decision to set a considerably lower cap on the number of refugees allowed into the US,” the Pew Research Center reported.
The United States received the most new asylum applications with 254,300 last year, compared to Australia’s figure of 28,800, according to the UNHCR.
Professor Crock said the number of people accepted in “organised” refugee programs and the number fleeing persecution is an important distinction.
“There is a big difference between the number of people we take… and the number of people who come here in search of protection with or without visas,” she said.
On a per capita basis, Australia resettled 510 refugees for every million of its own residents.
This compared to Canada’s leading figure of 756 refugees per million residents and the United States per capita number of 70 people.
But Professor Crock said that per capita assessment should not be used to justify a refugee program’s generosity.
“If you really want to talk about generosity and per capita, you’ve got to look at the countries who are hosting most of the world’s refugees,” she said.
“That takes you to Turkey, that takes you to Lebanon or Jordan.”
Professor Crock said how those fleeing war and persecution are treated must too be taken into account.
According to an Australian Human Rights Commission report released this week, the average length of immigration detention in Australia is close to 500 days.
This compared to Canada where this period did not exceed one month, and the United Kingdom where 80 per cent of people were detained for two months or less.
“We have become an outlier as a country in the way that we treat people who don’t come through regular programs,” Professor Crock said.
“In terms of the numbers of people and how we treat people who come here and seek asylum the story is very different.”