In response to the Federal Budget announcements, Amnesty International Australia’s Refugee Rights Campaigner, Zaki Haidari, says:
“The government has once again failed to properly meet Australia’s moral and legal obligations to refugees.”
Amnesty International Australia’s Refugee Rights Campaigner, Zaki Haidari
“The unchanged humanitarian intake is completely out of step with the urgent global need to provide protection to those in dire need, including Palestinian, Afghan and Rohingya refugees. Australia must do more to resettle those fleeing persecution and violence, yet this budget falls short.
“The Labor government’s choice to limit the offshore Humanitarian Program to 20,000 places per annum and to not prioritise UNHCR-referred refugees is unacceptable. The government has also ignored the urgent need for dedicated places for Palestinians escaping genocide, leaving thousands in dire situations.
“The Community Support Program (CSP) remains restrictive and inaccessible to many in need of protection. Without reforms to remove non-protection-related criteria and increase places to 10,000 per year, it fails to serve as a viable pathway to safety.
“The Australian Government must urgently reconsider its priorities. Amnesty International Australia calls for an immediate increase in the humanitarian intake, reformed private sponsorship pathways, and an end to inhumane detention policies.”
“The Australian Government must urgently reconsider its priorities. Amnesty International Australia calls for an immediate increase in the humanitarian intake, reformed private sponsorship pathways, and an end to inhumane detention policies. We urgently call on the implementation of humane and permanent pathways to protection, for those seeking safety.”
Background
Amnesty International Australia’s 2025 budget submission recommended that the Australian Government:
- Establish an expanded humanitarian quota and take a leading role in resettling Rohingya refugees out of Bangladesh and expand and amend the criteria for the Skilled Refugee Labour Agreement pilot program to enable Rohingya refugees to access it.
- Provide 20,000 dedicated places in addition to Australia’s humanitarian intake over four years for Afghan refugees from 2026, and expedite and prioritise existing applications by Afghans, particularly those by Afghans living in Pakistan and Iran, as a matter of urgency.
- Increase the offshore Humanitarian Program to 30,000 places per annum in the 2025-26 Budget, the vast majority being UNHCR referred refugees, de-link the onshore component of the Humanitarian Program from the offshore component and include unallocated quotas that can be used in a flexible way for urgent and emergency cases.
- Immediately assist Palestinians fleeing genocide in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, starting with those who have family or connection to Australia, either by relaxing the Visitor Visa criteria relating to temporary entrants for applicants from the OPT; or by issuing subclass 449 visas offshore, and facilitating their safe passage to Australia.
- Offer all Palestinians who arrived in Australia since 7 October 2023 permanent protection, or alternatively, a three-year Subclass 786 Temporary (Humanitarian Concern) visa with a commitment to transition these to permanent Resolution of Status visas after three years.
- Establish a durable, uniform process and visa type to facilitate additional emergency intakes in international crises like those we are currently seeing.
- Reform Australia’s private sponsorship programs – the CSP and CRISP – by removing all non-protection related criteria, increasing the number of places to 10,000 per annum, and ensuring these are additional to the Refugee and Humanitarian Program.
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