Allow more refugees in: report
Australia should raise the number of refugees it welcomes and phase out mandatory detention, a new report says.
The report, to be released in Canberra on Wednesday, calls for a fresh approach to long-term immigration policy.
It will outline ways to deal with managing asylum seeker arrivals and the country’s regional engagement, calling for swift determination of claims, stronger work rights, and a transition away from mandatory detention.
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Senior Australian of the Year Fred Chaney, who is amongst a group of experts behind the report, said it was important to build a framework for the future.
“The fact is the boats have stopped, (but) will the problem go away? No it won’t,” he told ABC radio on Wednesday.
The report was the result of a top-level roundtable of policymakers and experts conducted under Chatham House rules in July, including members of the Labor and Liberal parties, former Indonesian Ambassador Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, UN officials and former parliamentarians.