Latest News

Budget analysis 2012-13

Read RCOA's analysis of the Federal Budget here.

Three new reports on settlement issues released

RCOA has released three new reports focusing on Job Services Australia, Income Management and Family Links. They can be accessed here.

20 years of mandatory detention

Sunday, 6 May, marked the 20th anniversary of Australia's mandatory detention policy for asylum seekers who arrive in Australia without a visa. Read our media release.

Homestay network supporting asylum seekers

Efforts to help accommodate asylum seekers while their status is being determined have been strengthened through the Homestay network. Read our media release.

End Child Detention focus on Australia

RCOA is providing strong support for the End Child Detention campaign. Through May, Australia is the first in a series of countries being highlighted by the Global Campaign to End Immigration Detention of Children. Read our media release here.

Employment strategies for refugee and humanitarian entrants

This report analyses solutions to the barriers that refugee entrants face in making the transition to meaningful, sustainable employment in Australia.

Read more about: What Works

Follow @OzRefugeeCounc

Refugees - the global picture

At the end of 2009, there were 43.3 million people forcibly displaced by persecution and conflict. Of these, 15.2 million were classified as refugees; 10.4 million were refugees under UNHCR’s mandate and 4.8 million were Palestinian refugees under the care of the UN Relief and Works Agency. Another 27.1 million people were displaced within the boundaries of their own country and nearly one million people were seeking asylum.

Refugees

The top ten countries of origin for refugees in 2009 were:

Afghanistan	2,887,100
Iraq	1,785,200
Somalia	678,300
Dem. Rep. of Congo	455,900
Myanmar	406,700
Colombia	389,800
Sudan	368,200
Viet Nam	339,300
Eritrea	209,200
Serbia	195,600

Of the 10.4 million refugees under UNHCR’s mandate, the largest numbers are being hosted by Pakistan (1,740,711), Iran (1,070,488), Syria (1,054,466), Germany (593,799), Jordan (450,756), Kenya (358,928), Chad (338,495) and China (300,989). Australia currently hosts 22,548 refugees (0.2% of the global total).

Asylum seekers

During 2009, 631,905 asylum seekers were recognised as refugees. The leading countries for refugee recognition were Republic of Congo (94,126), Kenya (76,133), Ethiopia (42,693), Malaysia (35,524), Yemen (33,541), Chad (33,366), Syria (30,696), Uganda (29,558), Sudan (26,496) and Ecuador (26,342). Just 3,441 (or 0.5%) of the world's asylum seekers were recognised as refugees in Australia.

At the end of 2009, 983,000 people were seeking asylum. South Africa received 222,324 people seeking asylum in 2009, with other leading countries for asylum applications being Republic of Congo (95,945), Kenya (87,879), Ethiopia (45,763), France (42,118), Malaysia (40,063), Uganda (36,878), Ecuador (35,514), Yemen (34,471) and Canada (33,970). Australia received 6,206 new asylum applications in 2009.