The Morrison government finally yielded to the pressure to offer more Afghan nationals fleeing the Taliban regime a place to live in Australia.
However, as more places are approved what happens to those who are already here? And will those granted asylum also be granted the opportunity to live like citizens or even the bare minimum of surviving with dignity?
That is a question posed by Kon Karapanagiotidis, CEO and founder of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
Previously, humanitarian program places offered to Afghan nationals were capped at 13,750 a year, a decision that had received significant criticism from refugee advocates and religious groups in Australia and overseas.
Ahead of the upcoming election, Tuesday’s budget announcement saw an additional of 16,500 humanitarian places allocated over the next four years, which translates to 4,125 each year.
It is worth mentioning that 2021-22, as of 28 February, a total of 905 Partner (subclass 309) and Prospective Marriage (subclass 300) visa applications have been granted to Afghan nationals.
Speaking to Neos Kosmos, Mr Karapanagiotidis warned that despite promises of cost of living relief in the budget – this will not be provided to people seeking asylum and refugees on temporary visas unaware what being in Australia entails.
“Today we celebrate as part of budget 2022 the 16,500 additional places allocated to refugees from Afghanistan, due to the sustained community pressure of the public demanding action for Afghanistan. And we thank the Morrison government for listening to us. However, it’s a bittersweet win,” he said.
While the budget seemingly succumbs to the pressure to accept refugees, he highlighted that the real issue lies in signing off a a 13.7 per cent cut to settlement services for newly arrived refugee and humanitarian entrants.
“For those seeking asylum – the majority who have no rights to work or health or Medicare,” Mr Karapanagiotidis said, – “there are zero dollars to help them transition out of this pandemic”, stressing that “another $482.5 million will go towards detaining refugees on Nauru as the resettlement agreement with New Zealand progresses”.
Speaking from Parliament House in Canberra, Mr Karapanagiotidis told Neos Kosmos that “5,000 refugees from Afghanistan, awaken to know that there is nothing in the budget to help them transition to permanent visas”, something that is taking away their ability of being reunited with their families or work towards sponsorships.
“I always say when you see a budget follow the money, and you can look beyond the marketing and spins try to tell you and see what the budget is actually about,” he argued.
“When it comes to refugees, this is a budget overall of cruelty and a profound backward step as $1.762 billion is allocated for one year, to lock up refugees offshore and onshore. Almost 2 billion dollars…”
Frustrated that $482,5 million is spent “to lockup a hundred souls” as the the same government does not give access to the $420 allowance to people seeking asylum and people living in absolute destitution, Mr Karapanagiotidis noted that the refugee intake remains at 13,750 a year.
“This government, since 2013 has stolen 33.075 places that belong to refugees and even though they have announced these extra places we’re still below what we were under the Gillard government.
For the CEO and founder of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre this budget is a backwards step, as he recounts all the money that was put towards locking up refugees since 2013, a good $9.6 billion.
“Imagine what that could be doing for first nations rights, for actual violence against women, for social housing and climate change control,” he said with frustration.
“Ultimately this is a failed budget… more cruelty for cruelty’s sake. And we should all be troubled that the same human rights commission is ordering cuts across groups that are the most vulnerable across the board.”