Media Releases

1 December 2011

The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) is heartened by statements made by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, the Hon Chris Bowen MP, that, “we can and should take more refugees”.

The Institute is the peak body for migration advice professionals, representing about 2000 Registered Migration Agents (RMAs), nearly 20 percent of which work on Humanitarian Program visa applications.

Speaking to a number of media outlets before the Australian Labor Party National Conference commences tomorrow, Minister Bowen described what he termed his aspiration position, that Australia should increase its Humanitarian Program intake from 13,750 to 20,000 visa grants annually.

“It is encouraging to see the Minister taking such a strong line on increasing our Humanitarian Program intake,” said MIA CEO Maurene Horder. “The Institute endorses that position unreservedly.

“I also commend the Minister, who is the Member representing the extremely diverse Fairfield and Smithfield area in Sydney’s west, for his ongoing and vocal support of a more generous, more open-minded and more multicultural Australia,” Ms Horder continued.

While not explicitly linking this proposal to renewed offshore processing, the Minister did raise the spectre of the stalled Malaysian “swap” deal as part of a “broader mix” of boat-reduction measures.

It is the MIA's position, as laid out in a submission made earlier this year to the Inquiry into Australia’s Immigration Detention Network, that onshore processing of all humanitarian entrants – regardless of method of arrival – would be in the best interest of asylum seekers and the Australian public alike.