Refugee crisisAustralia processes first group of 200 Middle Eastern refugees to be settled in the country

Published 24 September 2015

Australian immigration minister, Peter Dutton, has confirmed that Australian officials are conducting health and security checks on 200 Syrian refugees who are slated for resettlement in Australia. In early September, the then-prime minister, Tony Abbott, said Australia would make 12,000 additional permanent humanitarian visa places available for Syrians and Iraqis fleeing their countries. Dutton stressed that Australia was not going to be “slack” when it came to security and background checks.

Australian immigration minister, Peter Dutton, has confirmed that Australian officials are conducting health and security checks on 200 Syrian refugees who are slated for resettlement in Australia.

In early September, the then-prime minister, Tony Abbott, said Australia would make 12,000 additional permanent humanitarian visa places available for Syrians and Iraqis fleeing their countries.

The Australian government said that families and persecuted minorities registered through the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, would be given first preference.

The Guardian reports that today (Thursday), Dutton announced that Australian officials working with the UNHCR have started processing the first group.

“We’ve identified about 200 people already, and we’re going through security and health checks,” the minister told Macquarie Radio. “We will look at those most in need, including persecuted minorities.”

Dutton stressed that Australia was not going to be “slack” when it came to security and background checks.

“We are going to do biometrics testing, we are going to do some DNA testing otherwise, and we are going to search databases to make sure that people who come to this country are not going to pose a threat,” he said. “We offer a helping hand, but we aren’t going to inadvertently let people in who are going to do harm to the men, women and children of Australia.”

Biometrics tests are routinely used to identify people who enter Australia, and the testing of genetic material can be used to confirm lineage for family reunion visas and to determine age in order to counter child trafficking.

A spokeswoman for the immigration minister confirmed that the government was hoping to have the first group of refugees resettled in Australia by Christmas.