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The Sydney Morning Herald Australia to bring in 3000 Afghans in initial intake but plans for more

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Australia to bring in 3000 Afghans in initial intake but plans for more


By Anthony Galloway
August 18, 2021 — 6.41pm



At least 3000 Afghan refugees will be able to move to Australia in the next 10 months and the federal government is working on plans to bring in more, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison has not followed other countries in outlining a more ambitious long-term humanitarian commitment.

A dangerous rescue mission to evacuate almost 600 stranded Australians and Afghans in Kabul has begun with a Royal Australian Air Force transport aircraft flying in and out of the Afghan capital on Wednesday morning, in what the Prime Minister said was the “first of what will be many flights” in the coming days.


The first Australian Defence Force evacuation flight departed Kabul with 26 people on board.

Mr Morrison announced Australia would accept an initial humanitarian intake of 3000 Afghans over the next year – which would come out of Australia’s existing 13,750 person annual program – but said, “we do believe we’ll be able to do more than that”.

Britain and Canada have both promised a humanitarian intake of 20,000 people over several years from Afghanistan, but Mr Morrison said, “there are no clear plans about that” for Australia to do the same number.



“Australia is not going into that territory. What we’re focused on is right here and right now.”

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‘Moral obligation’: Almost 10,000 sign open letter pleading with PM to act on Afghanistan

Mr Morrison also said Australia will only be resettling Afghans who come through the “official humanitarian program”, in an apparent warning for people not to try to get to Australia on boats.

“We will not be allowing people to enter Australia illegally, even at this time. Our policy has not changed.”

Multiple government sources, who were not authorised to speak publicly, confirmed Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has been working on a longer-term target for Afghan refugees that could be announced in the coming weeks.
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Mr Hawke said on Wednesday that the government anticipates that the “initial allocation” of 3000 would “increase further over the course of this year”.

Australia has a long record of bringing in refugees over and above the existing humanitarian intake in times of a crisis, with the most recent example of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott committing to permanently resettle 12,000 refugees from Syria in 2015.


Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he hopes Australia can take more than 3000 Afghans.CREDIT:ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN

Phil Glendenning, president of the Refugee Council of Australia, said he hoped 3000 was the “starting point” otherwise it would be “highly inadequate”.

“We have a history in these situations,” he said. “Bob Hawke allowed in 42,000 Chinese. Fraser brought in 50,000 Vietnamese and Tony Abbott around 12,000 Syrians. We have a history of Liberal prime ministers doing this.”



Liberal MP Dave Sharma, a former senior diplomat, said he supported a “generous and dedicated humanitarian and refugee intake for Afghans fleeing the Taliban”. “We have a particular duty to women and young girls, who in particular face a dark future under the Taliban, and those Afghans who have assisted Australia during our time there,” Mr Sharma said.

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Fall of Kabul
The PM’s rhetoric on Afghan refugees has to be treated with caution


David Crowe

Chief political correspondent

Almost 10,000 people, including Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus, have signed a letter calling on the federal government to increase Australia’s humanitarian intake by at least 20,000 people. They want to prioritise spaces for vulnerable and persecuted Afghans, and expedite the resettlement of interpreters, guides and other personnel involved in Australia’s mission in Afghanistan.

“After almost two decades of intervention and promises to the Afghan people, promises of protection for persecuted groups, women, democratic freedoms and rule of law, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has a moral obligation to act in response to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan,” the letter says.

The open letter also asks the government to grant amnesty to all Afghan nationals in Australia who fear returning to Afghanistan.



Afghans trying to make it onto Australian flights face a dangerous journey trying to get through Taliban road blocks in Kabul.

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Updated
Fall of Kabul
Australian rescue mission under way in Kabul

A former interpreter for the Australian army was allegedly shot in the leg by the Taliban while he was trying to reach Australia’s first military evacuation flight on Wednesday morning, according to a report by SBS News. The man was not on the list of evacuees for the flight but tried to make his way to the airport after he heard it was arriving.

Mr Morrison said he would not comment on the report but stressed “Kabul is a dangerous place, and we’ve got Australians operating in a very dangerous environment”.

After arriving at Kabul airport, a RAAF C1-30 Hercules aircraft dropped off officials from the departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Defence and Home Affairs, who will begin processing Afghans on the ground for future flights. The flight then picked up 26 individuals – including Australian citizens, Afghan nationals and one foreign official – and headed back to Australia’s military base in the United Arab Emirates at 10.45am.



Australia closed its Kabul embassy in late May, meaning it had no officials on the ground in recent days to begin processing former interpreters who served with Australian soldiers during the decades-long conflict, as well as other Afghans who have links to the Australian government. More than 2200 diplomats and other civilians have been evacuated from Afghanistan on military flights, a Western security official told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday.


An Australian RAAF C-130J Hercules aircraft landed at Hamid Karzai International Airport to evacuate people to a base in the UAE.CREDIT:DEFENCE

United States President Joe Biden wants all the evacuations done by August 31, with the Taliban agreeing to allow “safe passage” from Afghanistan for civilians – but a timetable for completing the evacuation has yet to be worked out with the country’s new rulers.

Biden’s national security advisor Jake Sullivan acknowledged reports that some civilians were encountering resistance by “being turned away or pushed back or even beaten” as they tried to reach airport.

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Afghans who try to get to Australia by boat will not be accepted, as the government works on a larger refugee intake for Afghanistan.
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  • Leoni Billings
    Our PM needs to re think his Christianity and humanity… Perhaps he should reread the parable The Good Samaritan …..
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  • Michael Vaffa Nculo
    How about we get this country right first! Our own citizens having the freedom to move freely in their own country, being able to work again and get on with their lives until then we cannot open the gate and let more prisoners into our jail called Australia
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    6 replies
  • Top fan
    Herbert Coombs
    The saddest thing is you just know Morrison will win the next election.
    Even if he can’t think up a good enough scare campaign himself, Clive & Rupert and the Sky gang will do it for him.
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  • Mapo Tofu
    I was able to join an organisation before in Newcastle in the Hunter region and was able to interview the vulnerable ones in the area. I can definitely say that the federal government of Australia should focus more on its vulnerable citizens! They need… 
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    • Kerry O'Regan
      Mapo Tofu More than who?
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    • Michael Robertson
      Mapo Tofu sums up what this country has become,selfish and mean,we helped creat a situation and are unwilling to deal with the consequences
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    • Dave Dawson
      Mapo Tofu we do more than one thing at a time. There are always vulnerable people at home. There always will be. But that doesn't mean we just stop helping others abroad forever.
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    • Mapo Tofu
      Dave Dawson oh I get your point, so if you were to do it yourself, how will you help them considering the pandemic at this around.
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  • Tomasz Stanislaw Piekarski
    Lol 😂 this is funny so everyone forgotten about the virus world wide now use wanna take a load of refugees because of a take over I haven’t heard anything about these people being contagious they must have the best Medicare over there and up to date vaccine shots
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  • Grahame Nixon
    Heartless Hillsong Supporter days helping people flee death is not his thing ,he is a Pentecostalist he's dying to get to heaven besides God won't let you into heaven if you arrive by boat
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    • Johnny Dee
      Grahame Nixon such pathetic junk from a religious vilifier. #vilifier
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    • Robyn Lennon
      Grahame Nixon there are refugee camps all over the world full of people with nothing but hope. They apply for visas and wait to be accepted into a country for a new life. Then there are people who pay big money to boat smugglers and arrive without documentation. How did they move from country to country without papers or money?
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  • Ed Mma
    We need to focus in our own people in Australia, going through the current financial crisis. Our country needs to help their own and fight for their own people. Australia is not in the position to hand out any help at the moment
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    • Aleksandra Takahashi
      Ed Mma absolutely! Everyone else is put first 🙁
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    • Germien Du Plessis
      Ed Mma nonsense. We are able to help, and we should.
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      • Ed Mma
        Germien Du Plessis Nonsense but our communities are asking for food because our people are losing job incomes? Medicare has made more cuts ? Australia can’t provide medical support to our people at hospitals, Housing sector is struggling? Please get a grip of your emotions and let’s be realistic
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    • Louis Christie
      Ed Mma these guys helped our diggers when they were called to fight in Afghanistan, risking their lives and their families lives to do so. Shameful to cut them loose and leave them to die - I dunno where you grew up, but that's not the Australian way of doing things
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  • Ash Kimber
    I see the ignorant still lives deeply amongst us. Poorleen lives on in spirit. Surely this event will bring her back from the dead. It's the only time anyone finds her the tad bit relevant. It's like racists to honey.
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  • Natalie Pike
    We have enough problems of our own to sort out!
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  • Tyler Rolls
    3000, over 10 months, what a joke of a response.
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    1 reply
  • Coreena Venn
    Afghanistan doesn't have a coastline
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  • Amanda McCauley
    Wouldn’t let own Aussie back into the country but welcome these people with open arms.
    Sad but I don’t care how hard done by these people are when our own country is in trouble, worry about your own citizens first!!!
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  • Faith Rue
    And don't forget your skilled migrants in regional areas who have been loyal who are providing essential services they need their PR asap
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  • Frank Tweedie
    Keep them in a separate location until they can speak English and understand our laws. So it will cost but that will be insignificant to what can happen in the future.
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  • Yvette Dempsey
    Some Afghans were so fearful of the Taliban they clung to planes as they took off. Clearly many won't be able to get on a plane but this government will not help if they arrive by boat? So much for compassion!
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    • Carmela Buan
      They bring here to use the people tax money. Is it pair who work 38 hrs in a week. Just to support them once they are here. And later on they become taliban. Thinks many times. AUSTRALIA is a beautiful country
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    • Johnny Dee
      Yvette Dempsey you're probably one of these bleeding hearts that would have said the war in Afghanistan needs to stop and Australia needs to pull out and look what the outcome that has been. Every nation needs to have clear and strong Border Security including Australia.
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      • Robyn Lennon
        Yvette Dempsey the Prime Minister said they need to come in by the front door. Meaning via refugee aid agencies or with passports and proper documentation
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        4 replies
      • David Rodger
        Yvette Dempsey Conservatives don't do compassion. Well sometimes for white South African farmers.
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    • Purchased By Paul 
      Follow
      We need to show some heart and care here. SloMo needs to be replaced asap
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      1 reply
    • Victoria Martin
      No
      Of our current intake they will reserve 3000 for Afghans
      Read the bloody press release!!!
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      1 reply
    • Amanda Kenyon
      Surely if they meet the requirements and are a valid refugee why would it matter how they got here. They helped Australia and we have a moral responsibility to help them.
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      • Heli Burke
        Amanda Kenyon Em….we have just pulled out of a country where the enemy won a war….apart from the taliban and its sympathisers, every single one is a legitimate refugee. That’s how war works.
        We took 50,000 after Vietnam and didn’t care how they got her… 
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        • Amanda Kenyon
          Heli Burke agreed, and look how those Vietnamese have enriched our culture and contributed to our way of life.
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        • Heli Burke
          Amanda Kenyon yes they have. Even tho there were plenty of objectors and lots of vilification in their first 10 years here.
          The difference is government didn’t run the racism from the top then, it was left to the likes of shock jocks and a current affair.
          Remember in the 90s when Hanson first appeared, she was still talking about being ‘swamped by asians’.
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    • Simon Boileau
      This government simply just doesn’t speak for the people anymore only themselves and there party such grubs
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    • Thomas Alexander
      I’m sure they will just round up all of those poor refugees and force them to live on some remote island in a bunch of poorly constructed prefab buildings for many many years. Sigh....
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      • 2 d
    • Dette Kildin
      Could you imagine being so desperate for your children's safety and your own to jump on a leaking boat?
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    • Michelle Burmeister
      What about the animals? listen to the podcast from Kabul small animal rescue.
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    • Sam Alderton-Johnson
      Does the prime minister watch the news? Did he see the airport?
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    • Danielle Georgette
      At least he is consistent. Consistently awful. I feel for all the afghans we already sent back who will now suffer - especially the women and children.
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    • Valerie Foster
      Time is…c countries stepped up. It will be basically young men
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    • Jo N Dicko Kane
      So he doesnt fly a plane ,what more doya want ??
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    • Phil Jenkinson
      Our cruellest PM wishes it were different! Didn't even bother with his hopes and prayers BS. His predecessor was one of three international lying bufoons who started this WORTHLES war 20 years ago. We have some responsability for the plight of these poor soles.
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    • Rolland Warcon
      Stop invading other people’s country and start minding our own fukn business instead of following the Americans around the world starting wars then we maybe able to afford to help people!!
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    • Debra May
      The first tiny glimpse of humanity from our "leader"... Oh wait no, an opinion pole just told him people were tiring of his cruelty.
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      • Joseph Daniel
        What's an "opinion pole"??… 
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      • Nicole Morrison
        Opinion "poles", say that overwhelmingly Australians support tight borders, Labor keeps losing elections because of it so yeah, your "pole", isn't right. You sound like another smart Labor voter.
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    • Alex Riedl
      We accepted over 50000 from Vietnam. C'mon scomo step up to the plate!
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      • Nicole Morrison
        no thanks. Labor took that policy of the bleeding heart left last time they were in power and were thrown out. If you want to help refugees feel free to send them your money.
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      • Russell Guard
        Alex Riedl The Vietnamese community never tried to make bombs and blow up Australia, huge difference
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        • Nicole Morrison
          Russell Guard because as we all know, Vietnamese are the same religion and background as Afghans, what an ignorant thing to say.
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    • Kate Shelton
      International laws allow refugees to seek asylum by any means of transport - Scomo is a law unto himself
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    • June Catherine O'Neill
      And where will they isolate and how do we know some are not terrorists? We should only be taking in women and children first , get them settled throughout Australia then bring in their husbands etc.
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      • Ash Kimber
        June Catherine O'Neill we have plenty of home grown terrorists here already. It's just that never get the same attention as the brown, ethnic religious ones. Still we don't seem to care about the actual facts or stats. We're Stralian.
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    • Mary Norton Armstrong
      ScoMo the marketing guru has to talk about the ‘boat people’ ….. just a distraction of what the Govt hasn’t done re ‘friends of Australia’ people etc and the on going pathetic detention of refugees here 🤦🏻‍♀️🙈🙉🙊
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    • Louis Christie
      A nd Scotty plans for so much, and his plans mean so little
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    • Caterina Melillo
      No difference if by boat or plane !
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    • Terry Spary
      Is the Afghans in Australia doing a sponsor programme to get them here
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    • Mikey Gee
      take it easy, it's not a race:-)
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    • Fletcher Thomas
      And what about COVID? What safety measures are in place? This could be a catastrophe, all those people in one place.
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      • Catherine Thorogood
        Fletcher Thomas As if you care about Covid. Bet you voted to stop the boats before Covid came along.
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      • Louis Christie
        Fletcher Thomas think before you type, you're embarrassing yourself in public
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      • Judi Kay
        Fletcher Thomas They are not all coming at once. 26 on the first evacuation flight is a big clue as to the pace that this government will move at. They will not let in anyone that they haven't 100% vetted first - that is their policy, and why they have… 
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    • Jack Mansell
      Australia spent almost $10 billion on their dirty war in Afghanistan. 3,000 is pathetic penance for the damage they caused! Shameful
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      • Jordan Taani Fuahala
        What a slap in the face to all those who’ve fallen mate
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      • Jack Mansell
        The bitter truth is that no Australian soldier should ever have set foot in Afghanistan. 200,000 dead Afghans. For what? Western geopolitical interests.
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    • Merle Gorman
      I agree with President Biden and our P.M.'s take on things. Most people don't know what they are dealing with.
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    • Ferdie Fico Adoe
      Unbelievable. Instead of building more hospitals for Covid and fix his mess here . This one bringing new problems .
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    • Diwas Poudel
      Liberals will loose the election for sure !!!
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    • Eli Sharp
      Slomo good for nothing as usual
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    • Mark Reid Meakin
      10% of what canada has said they will take ....
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    • John Rosin
      Such an unattractive proposition
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      Keith Meyer
      Just what we need, more used car sales people on buy swap and sell pages.
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    • Pat Devery
      In yet another monumental stuff up from a do nothing government his go to move is to dog whistle the One Nation rump of his backbench
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    • Matt Dodds
      At 26 a flight they should be here by mid 2027.
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    • Adam Jones
      Another 3000 to get free housing and government benefits. How about housing Australians that have lost their house due to covid. Look after Aussies first before letting in who knows what
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      Craig McNamara
      Not if they haven't been test or vaccinated they shouldn't be allowed here.
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