A refugee, as defined by the Refugees Convention, and currently in Australia, is entitled to a Protection visa, subject to a few conditions shown at: http://www.immi.gov.au/visas/humanitarian/onshore/866/

This visa allows a refugee to live and work in Australia as a permanent resident, having access to Medicare and Centrelink services.

Protection visa holders may also receive a range of services to assist them in settling into life in Australia.

One problem with having more people in some countries is the ongoing cost, especially with small population countries who have a good welfare system.

If we compare the United States to Australia for example, there are about 307 million people, compared to Australia’s 20 million.

Then compare the welfare payments that a refugee would get in each country, divided by each taxpayer, and you see some very startling figures.

I did see one figure for the USA that quoted “$5,291 for the true cost of each refugee resettled”, and I know that the Australian figure is much higher.

One refugee supporting site quotes the USA as taking 38,000 refugees last year, and Australia taking in only 8,400.
Working on those figures, the refugee cost ‘per taxpayer’ is already three times as high in Australia as it is in the USA, and that is assuming that $5,291 also applied to Australia.

This would actually make a very interesting statistic to do an “accurate” comparison for. I will put that on my to do list.

One fact about Refugees and the cost to Australia is: “A refugee who has permanent residency in Australia receives exactly the same social security benefit as any Australian-born person in the same circumstances. Refugees apply for social security through Centrelink like everyone else and are assessed for the different payment options in the same way as everyone else.”

Maybe if refugees were not entitled to taxpayers funds, and were accommodated in the outlying areas, where there is sufficient space, and worked in the outer businesses, where they may be needed, then they would be seen as paying their way, and maybe welcomed into the country, in a much more acceptable way.

This is one of those cases where IF it is done correctly, it could work. But if not, then the average taxpayer may see it as an expense that they can’t afford, and resent these new arrivals, which in turn could become racism based on purely financial reasons.

This is already happening in some areas where Australian Citizens are waiting patiently for state housing, but the newly arriving refugees get priority, and push these citizens further back in the queue.

Canada, is quoted as: The costs per refugees (courtesy of the Canadian taxpayer) can cost anywhere from $40,000 upwards and that is in a country where applicants can already wait up to 10 years for social housing.

Sources:
http://www.rethinkrefugees.com.au/the-facts/fact-6/
http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/current/myths.html