The UNHCR\u2019S latest asylum trends in industrialised countries report shows despite the hysterical tone of the political debate in Australia, we accept less of the world\u2019s asylum seekers than tiny Switzerland, the Australian Greens said today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile there was a 20 percent jump worldwide in the amount of people seeking protection last year, Australia took just 3 percent of the world\u2019s most desperate people,\u201d Greens\u2019 immigration spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis report shows a 9 percent drop in the number of people seeking asylum in Australia in 2011, the first fall in six years.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the UNHCR said in October, more people crossed the Mediterranean to Italy in one weekend in August than Australia took in six months last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis report exposes the myth that Australia receives too many asylum seekers and cannot manage the number of people who arrive by boat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UNHCR says if protection conditions are improved in transit countries and people are provided with safety, they won\u2019t need to risk their lives on boats to try reaching Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Greens repeat our call for Australia to lift its humanitarian intake to 20-25,000 people a year and resettle more people directly from Malaysia and Indonesia to undercut asylum seekers\u2019 reliance on people smugglers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Prime Minister has said she wants the facts on the table \u2013 well, the facts show Australia takes very few asylum seekers, and those that come are among the world\u2019s most desperate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the Immigration Minister insists the Malaysia people swap deal is necessary to deter arrivals, these figures show this policy is unnecessary and will simply costs lives and taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia should not be expelling asylum seekers because we can handle the relative handful of people who arrive seeking our help.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Greens will never support legislation to expel people to Malaysia, Nauru or anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n MEDIA CONTACT:\u00a0 Paris Lord 0427 604 760<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The UNHCR\u2019S latest asylum trends in industrialised countries report shows despite the hysterical tone of the political debate in Australia, we accept less of the world\u2019s asylum seekers than tiny Switzerland, the Australian Greens said today. \u201cWhile there was a 20 percent jump worldwide in the amount of people seeking protection last year, Australia took just 3 percent of the world\u2019s most desperate people,\u201d Greens\u2019 immigration spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young. \u201cThis report shows a 9 percent drop in the number…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archived-press-releases","post-has-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\n