Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The latest UNHCR report shows that, at the end of 2014, there were 59.4 million forcibly displaced people in the world. That included 19.5 million refugees, half of them children. An equally disturbing statistic is that, in just 12 months, the number of displaced persons rose by 8.3 million. That means, on average, every day last year another 42,500 people became refugees. These figures do not include the number of people who have fled Syria in recent months. They continue to flee and it has reached crisis point in Syria's neighbouring countries and throughout Europe. It is estimated that about two million have fled, mainly from Syria, since the start of this year.

Every day we hear new reports of refugees swamping parts of Europe, where local communities simply cannot cope with the influx. Sadly, many of the refugees, possibly thousands, never reach their destination because they die in tragic circumstances along the way. Some of those deaths are known and reported, but I doubt whether all of them are. If has become a massive global humanitarian problem—perhaps worse than anything else that has happened since the end of World War II—for which there does not appear to be any immediate solution. Whilst it is a global problem, disappointingly not all countries are contributing to relief efforts or opening their doors to the people fleeing. That, however, should be no excuse for Australia doing the same.

Millions of refugees are often left for years in squalid, unsafe refugee camps with little hope of ever being resettled. Stopping boat arrivals is one matter, but resettling genuine refugees languishing in refugee camps is another. Indeed, it was Australia that played a key role in drafting the international refugee convention. Yesterday the Australian government announced an additional intake of 12,000 refugees fleeing Syria. Having earlier called for an intake of an additional 10,000 refugees, Labor supports that commitment; however, I understand that not all Australians will. The additional intake will not make a huge dent in the total number of global refugees, but for those 12,000 it will make a world of difference.

In the same vein, it is time that more is now done to resettle the 1,700-odd refugees now being held at Nauru and Manus Island, many of whom I understand have now also been there for years. Leaving their country, for whatever reason, is not a crime. People should not be kept indefinitely in makeshift refugee camps, which are now the subject of serious concerns raised by credible independent observers and government investigations. It is time that every effort is made to find a new home for those people. It makes both humanitarian sense and economic sense to do so.