Link between the onshore and offshore programs

Since 1996, the onshore and offshore components of Australia’s Refugee and Humanitarian Program have been numerically linked. This means that every time an onshore applicant is granted a Protection Visa, a place is deducted from the offshore program. Australia is the only country in the world which links its onshore and offshore programs in this way.

The linking policy blurs the distinction between Australia’s obligations under international law and our commitment to sharing international responsibility for refugees for whom no other durable solution is available. The onshore component of the program is designed to meet Australia’s obligations under the UN Refugee Convention to recognise and provide protection to people fleeing persecution. The offshore resettlement program is a voluntary commitment designed to provide durable solutions for the many refugees who can neither remain where they are nor return home. By making Australia’s resettlement quota to resettlement contingent on the number of onshore visas granted, the policy reduces the already limited opportunities for resettlement and undermines Australia’s commitment to the international sharing of responsibility for refugee protection.

The linking policy also fuels the myth that onshore asylum seekers are trying to avoid the “proper procedures” for seeking protection or are attempting to rort the system. It creates the perception that there is a resettlement “queue” which onshore applicants are trying to evade and that onshore applicants take places away from “genuine” refugees in overseas camps. In fact, this resettlement “queue” is a deliberate policy choice which could easily be changed.

Furthermore, applying for protection onshore is not a means of bypassing the “proper procedures” for seeking protection, but is in fact the standard procedure for seeking protection. Every refugee in the world – including those who Australia resettles from overseas – has, at some point, entered another country to seek asylum. Resettlement in third countries is the exception rather than the rule. In general, it is only used as a solution for refugees in cases where it isn’t possible for them to return home or settle in the country where they sought asylum.

Additionally, the linking policy risks creating antagonism between different refugee communities. Onshore Protection Visas are deducted from the allocation for the Special Humanitarian Program. This visa subclass is the main way that refugee families separated by flight and resettlement can reunite in Australia. As such, the policy pits onshore and offshore applicants against each other by creating a system in which onshore applicants are seen as “taking” places which could be used to resettle family members.

Ending the linking policy would demonstrate Australia’s firm commitment to providing durable solutions to refugees, help to dispel myths about onshore asylum seekers and reduce the potential for antagonism between refugee communities. It would also provide greater clarity for the Australian Government and settlement service providers in planning the Refugee and Humanitarian Program by ensuring a predictable number of resettlement places each year.