Seeking asylum: Australia's humanitarian response to a global challenge

Posted 01/09/2010 by Janet Phillips

Australia currently accepts about 13 750 refugees and other humanitarian entrants each year, but there remains a great deal of confusion surrounding the details of Australia's humanitarian responses and the complex visa arrangements involved. This new Parliamentary Library Background Note, Seeking asylum: Australia's humanitarian response to a global challenge, aims to clarify some of these issues. It looks at the differences between the offshore and onshore components of Australia's Humanitarian Program and includes some useful statistics dating back to 1945. Other related papers published recently include: Asylum seekers and refugees: what are the facts?; Australian Government assistance to refugees: fact v fiction; and Boat arrivals in Australia since 1976.
(Image sourced from Multicultural Arts Victoria, Refugee and Asylum Seekers Festival, 2005)

Tags: asylum, refugees

Flagpost is a blog on current issues of interest to members of the Australian Parliament

Logo - Parliamentary Library Department of Parliamentary Services