Calls for Australia to take 20,000 MORE Afghan refugees – similar to the number taken in by Canada and the UK – with desperate families ‘left to die’
- Tens of thousands of refugees from Afghanistan are looking to settle abroad
- Australia has committed to taking 3,000 or perhaps 5,000 Afghan people
- But charities, churches and activists are calling for Australia to accept 20,000
Activists have called on the federal government to increase Australia’s intake of refugees from Afghanistan.
A small group gathered in Brisbane on Sunday, also campaigning for permanent visas for all Afghan asylum seekers and refugees, and an end to the ban on refugees arriving from Indonesia.
About 122,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the Taliban retook the capital of Kabul in August.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has promised 3000 places will be allocated to Afghan refugees in Australia’s humanitarian migration program this financial year, but has rebuffed calls for an extra intake.
However, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has recently flagged that the federal government’s initial commitment could rise to 5000 people.
The UK and Canada have promised to grant safe haven to 20,000 refugees looking to escape the new regime, while Australia is so far accepting 3,000 (pictured, refugees in Kabul)
About 122,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the Taliban retook the capital of Kabul in August (pictured, Australian evacuees are seen returning home from Kabul)
The Refugee Action Coalition (RAC), along with churches and human rights groups, have called for a special intake of at least 20,000 people.
The UK and Canada have promised to grant safe haven to 20,000 refugees looking to escape the new regime.
Hazara community elder Hassan Ghoulam spoke at the rally, saying Australia has a particular responsibility to accept Afghan refugees given its role in the conflict.
‘Australia has to compensate for this decision that they have made,’ he said.
‘We should do something much more than just 5000 (people) even.’
The Taliban is going from home to home, picking people up in the middle of the night and disappearing them, he said, and Australia’s reluctance to increase its intake is leaving families to die.
‘People in Afghanistan matter as much as any other life.’
A rally for Afghan women is planned in Brisbane on Sunday, September 19. More interstate rallies are being planned for as soon as lockdowns lift in Sydney and Melbourne.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has promised 3000 places will be allocated to Afghan refugees in Australia’s humanitarian migration program this financial year, but has rebuffed calls for an extra intake (pictured, a displaced family in Kabul)