Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently I had the opportunity, together with the Chief Government Whip, to make a field visit to the Middle East to assess the impact of the crisis in Syria and Iraq. No-one could come away from such a visit unaffected. The suffering of people displaced by the violence in Syria cannot be ignored by the world community. The humanitarian response and a longer term political solution to a crisis must be supported by the international community, including Australia.

We are a very prosperous and generous nation and we must step up and meet our obligations when it comes to this crisis. Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey are contributing a significant amount of resources to an unprecedented influx of Syrian refugees. The burden on these nations cannot be ignored by the international community, and we should be doing all we can to assist. Half of Syria's 12 million population is currently displaced. Countries neighbouring Syria have already received around four million people fleeing the war. Their capacity to continue to host so many refugees for an extended period of time is being seriously stretched. Lebanon alone has a population of a little over four million people. It is currently hosting 1.5 million refugees from Syria.

The government must substantially increase Australia's contribution to the UN and relief organisations in delivering humanitarian assistance to people affected by the violence in Syria. This should include increasing the support for the UN agencies operating in neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.

Apart from financially doing our fair share—which is calculated by Oxfam to be $117.6 million—there is also a role for Australia through our humanitarian and refugee migration program. In August the coalition announced 4,400 places for refugees from Iraq and Syria fleeing violence and persecution. These places are not an overall increase to Australia's humanitarian intake but are part of the existing 13,750 places that we offer annually.

This number is low, and—given the circumstances that we now find ourselves in in the Middle East—this needs to be reviewed. The government should also be working with the UNHCR to consider the needs of people displaced by violence in Iraq and Syria and to prioritise placing these groups. We can be doing more. We need to be doing more.