Australia to take 4,400 refugees from Syria, Iraq

Australia will offer to resettle some 4,400 people fleeing violence in Iraq and Syria, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said Sunday, adding the places had been freed up by success in stopping asylum-seeker boats.

Boat arrivals have all but dried up since Australia said it would refuse resettlement to any refugees arriving on unauthorized vessels, sending them instead to Papua New Guinea and Nauru in the Pacific.

"The government's policies under Operation Sovereign Borders have not only saved lives at sea, but also allowed more places to be returned to our humanitarian program for the world's most desperate and vulnerable people," he said.

The minister said a minimum of 2,200 places would be for Iraqis, including ethnic and religious minorities fleeing the violence in the north of the country.

"The government has also committed a minimum of 2,200 places for Syrians, including those now living in desperate conditions in countries such as Lebanon," he added.

Australia accepts 13,750 people into its humanitarian refugee program each year, and Morrison said the government would ensure that 11,000 of these places would be for people overseas in need of resettlement.

"This government has made it very clear that priority in the humanitarian program should be for those waiting overseas and entering Australia under an orderly process," he said.

Last year, Australia took more than 1,000 people from Syria, more than 2,000 from Iraq, 2,754 from Afghanistan and just over 1,800 from Myanmar.

Morrison said while the situation was improving in Myanmar, Australia would continue to support the resettlement of its refugees, "in particular those from the many Christian ethnic minorities currently living in Malaysia and Thailand, such as the Karen and Chin".