Australia rejects claims Somali refugees being turned away by Australia

By ABC Australia chief political correspondent Emma Griffiths

 

Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor has rejected claims that refugees from Somalia are not being accepted by Australia.

Somali refugees in Indonesia told the ABC that they had been advised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that they would not be accepted through Australia's resettlement programs, even if they had refugee status.

Mr O'Connor says the assertion is incorrect.

"Indeed, we've increased the offshore component under our humanitarian program, which provides more opportunities for people from all parts of the world, including Africa, to be resettled here," he told AM.

Somali refugee Mohamed Abdurahman said he had been waiting for resettlement in Indonesia for three years and was wondering if Australia will not accept him because he is black.

He told the ABC he has watched refugees from other countries leave for Australia.

"Maybe you can see one person, [waiting for] less than one year, already settled ... and we are here many years just sitting," he said.

"They say to us clearly that Australia don't want to take Somalian community from Indonesia."

He says about 80 Somalis have opted to travel with people smugglers in the past two months.

Last October the Federal Government increased its humanitarian intake for 2012-13 from 13,750 refugees to 20,000.

It stated that the increase would target refugees from source and transit countries, including up to 2,000 refugees from Africa.