In this blog on 4 February, I mentioned the failure of the Australian government to adequately respond to the Syrian refugee crisis. I pointed out that at that time only ten refugees had arrived from Syria out of a promised intake of 12,000. I mentioned three factors for this delay. The first was political will. The second was the failure of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection which has become focused on control and border protection at the expense of settlement. The third was the inordinate delays resulting from ASIO security checks.
The Canadian government has just announced that it has achieved its goal of 25,000 Syrian refugee arrivals even though Canada announced its plans two months after Australia. The Canadian government is now proposing to increase its intake of Syrian refugees to 50,00 by the end of 2016.
The Canadian response puts us to shame both for its humanity and efficiency. See link to article in the Canadian newspaper, The Globe and Mail. John Menadue.
John Menadue is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Pearls and Irritations. He was formerly Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser, Ambassador to Japan, Secretary of the Department of Immigration and CEO of Qantas.