… but says SHEV program should support the asylum seekers already here

Tasmania’s migrant community leaders welcome the Hodgman Government’s announcement that it will contribute $1 million towards the UNHCR response to the Syrian refugee crisis, and provide new funding to settle people under the Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV) program.

Chairperson of the Multicultural Council of Tasmania, Alphonse Mulumba says the government is showing leadership and compassion in response to this humanitarian crisis.

The Council reiterates its support for the Tasmanian Government’s willingness to settle an additional 500 ‘refugees and asylum seekers’ in Tasmania through the SHEV program. However, the Council says the SHEV program is not designed for new refugees.

“There is an important point that needs to be understood. The interests of asylum seekers already in Australia that have come by boat are supposed to be covered by the SHEV program that was designed to address their lack of rights. Some people have mis-understood that this program could cover the new intake of Syrian refugees as well.”

The Council urges the government to maintain a strong focus on the 32,000 asylum seekers who have already come to Australia on boats and are living in limbo in Australia on bridging visas. It is these people that the SHEV program was designed to help.

“Thousands of asylum seekers have been living in Australia in a terrible situation for many years, with no rights to work and no pathway to permanent residency. The SHEV visa program was negotiated between the federal government and Clive Palmer as a way to alleviate this terrible situation. We must not forget these people,” said Mr Mulumba.

“Our hope is that the 500 SHEV program places and the $1.2 million for new services will remain focused on settling the asylum seekers who are already here and have been living in limbo in Australia for years. These people have been devastated by uncertainty and poverty and are really deserving of the new hope that the SHEV places provide.”

“The plight of these asylum seekers should not forgotten with the arrival of a new intake of refugees from Syria.”

“The Multicultural Council would like the Tasmanian government to take an additional allocation of Syrian refugees, once further details are released from today’s announcement of a new special intake of 12,000 refugees. The Council notes that this new group, unlike asylum seekers, will be supported via the financial arrangements and certainty provided by the Federal Government for refugees under the Humanitarian Program.”

“Tasmania’s migrant community is keen to work with the government and the broader community to support all of these new residents to Tasmania. We also hope that as part of the soon to be released Population Strategy, the government can support additional efforts to ensure that a much larger percentage of refugees and asylum seekers stay and settle in Tasmania. We want to be known not only as a place of welcome, but also as a state that people from diverse cultures can settle in the long term, and become leaders in our community,” said Mr Mulumba.
Multicultural Council of Tasmania