Australia will take an extra 12,000 Syrian refugees, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announcement.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
Mr Abbott made the announcement at the same time he confirmed Australia would extend its campaign of air strikes from Iraq into Syria.
The Federal Government will also provide an extra AU$44 million in financial aid to refugee agencies.
"Our focus for these new 12,000 permanent resettlement places will be those people most in need of permanent protection," Mr Abbott told reporters in Canberra.
"Women, children and families from persecuted minorities who have sought refuge in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey... the most vulnerable of all."
Mr Abbott said the Government would "shortly" send officials to the region to work with the UNHCR to start identifying candidates for resettlement.
"We will move very quickly but everyone who is resettled in Australia will be subject to the usual security, health and character checks."
It is not clear whether the full increase will happen this year, or be staggered over a number of years.
Mr Abbott at the weekend dismissed questions about increasing the refugee intake above Australia's existing commitment to the United Nations refugee agency.
Labor then called for an extra 10,000 refugees to be accepted and The Greens argued for double that figure.
Yesterday Mr Abbott promised a "generous" boost in the number of refugees and emphasised the government's policy would be informed by meetings the Immigration Minister Peter Dutton held in Europe.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg had suggested considering issuing temporary visas, along the lines of the assistance provided to the Kosovars under the Howard government in 1999.
Government backbencher Cory Bernardi said the government was focused on permanent resettlement.
"We need to provide these people with a permanent abode," he said.
The Federal Government has previously flagged that the focus of its intake of Syrian refugees will be minorities that are largely Christian.
Senator Bernardi has endorsed that approach.
"The most vulnerable people in the Middle East are persecuted Christians, women, children and families," Senator Bernardi said.
But after today's meeting Cabinet minister Christopher Pyne stressed the Government was not focused on singling out one religious group.
"Religion is not the issue here, the issue is persecuted ethnic and religious minorities," he said.
"We have a colour-blind policy in terms of humanitarian support."
The Government had previously committed to increase the existing refugee intake of 13,750 to 18,750 by 2018.
- ABC