Australia's Refugees: New Report
Media Release - DPS 8/96
Australia is one of only ten countries around the world that consistently offers third country settlement (or resettlement) for refugees. And, in spite of considerable difficulties, many families who enter Australia as part of the humanitarian program adjust well to life in Australia over time, a new report says.
"On the whole they are a unique group of people who bring long-term benefits…to the Australian community. They should be viewed as an asset not a liability. They did not choose to migrate and they long for their homelands," it says.
Ambivalent Welcome: The Settlement Experiences of Humanitarian Entrant Families in Australia has just been published by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Written by Robyn Iredale, Colleen Mitchell and Rogelia Pe-Pua of the University of Wollongong and Eileen Pittaway of ANCORW (Australian National Committee On Refugee Women), the study examines the settlement experiences of humanitarian entrants compared with those of non-humanitarian entrants.
The report states that:
- the initial disadvantage of settlement is closely related to the impact of torture and trauma on both the physical and mental health of people arriving from situations of war, civil and political unrest or gross human rights abuse. In addition, some have been through lengthy periods in camps or other types of social and economic dislocation. The health problems may be severe. They are sometimes the direct result of torture practices (such as broken bones, amputation, organ damage from electric shocks or sexual abuse), the result of war or the outcome of years of malnutrition, poor sanitation and poor housing. The highest priority is for early attention to be paid to physical and mental health problems.
- The importance of family support during the initial period in Australia ranks a close second to health as a factor that facilitates successful settlement. Families, in a broad sense, most importantly provide emotional/moral support but they also provide practical support such as assistance with finding accommodation and employment. Those without this type of support feel isolated and constrained in terms of opportunities here. As well, anxiety about relatives overseas is an additional factor that impacts on the capacity to settle.
The report has 22 recommendations in the areas of health, housing, language, education and training, employment and income, and families and sponsorship. It includes the following recommendations:
- Australia's generosity in the acceptance of refugees for settlement is motivated by issues of social justice and human rights. Such issues should not diminish in importance once the humanitarian entrants have arrived on our shores. Understanding of their needs must be better reflected in service delivery, by both the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and all other agencies concerned with their long term settlement. The uniqueness of each family's needs must be emphasised.
- Special consideration needs to be given to humanitarian entrants to assist them with the sponsorship of relatives.
- Many of the needs have already been identified and recognised in policy development but problems appear to arise in the implementation of policy at the practical level. Improved resourcing and administration of existing policies would go a long way to meeting the special settlement needs of humanitarian families.
The study, which was carried out in 1995 in Sydney and Wollongong, examines the settlement experiences of 172 families: 126 humanitarian entrant families and 46 non-humanitarian entrant families. Comprehensive in-depth interviews were conducted with each family or household by bilingual interviewers. Humanitarian and non-humanitarian respondents were selected from the following birthplace group: Africa, El Salvador, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, the People's Republic of China, Turkey and Viet Nam.
A total of 675 000 people entered Australia in the Humanitarian Program between 1947 and July 1995. Australia's acceptance of refugees developed from the pre-war admittance of Jewish refugees to the post-war admittance of displaced persons and other European refugees in the 1950s and 1960s; Indochinese, Lebanese, Latin American and other refugees in the 1970s and 1980s; and now acceptance from many different parts of the globe (especially Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and the former USSR).
The term humanitarian entrants is used rather than refugees or refugee entrants. The latter refer to a specific visa category while the former is more inclusive and encapsulates the situations which have impacted on people's lives and encouraged or forced them to leave their homelands.
Canberra 30 September 1996
Media contact: Robyn Iredale (042) 213 448 or
Gillian Curtis (017) 824-614, (042) 213 926