Off the wire
• English FA Cup draw  • Ireland reaches Euro 2016  • Mexican team arrive in Honduras ahead of World Cup qualifier  • Uruguay and Chile prepare for World Cup qualifier  • China's Tianhe-2 retains world's most powerful supercomputer: report  • ATP World Tour Finals results  • Panama face Costa Rican challenge in World Cup qualifier  • Second-hand gold market declines in Portugal  • British PM outlines national response to terror threat  • UN Rapporteurs concerned over bloodletting in Palestinian territory, Israel  
You are here: 　 Home

Australia's first Syrian refugee arrivals to touch down in Perth

Xinhua, November 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

The first of Australia's 12,000 Syrian refugees will begin their new lives in the country from Tuesday, arriving almost a month ahead of schedule.

The family of five, a couple and three children, will be resettled in the Western Australian (WA) capital of Perth after clearing an "arduous and thorough" screening process, according to Australia's Social Services Minister, Christian Porter.

"We have generally expected that the arrivals would start in earnest in December," Porter said on Tuesday.

"That will still be the case, but this family happens to be the first."

On Monday, it was widely reported that the first of Australia's intake of 12,000 displaced Syrians, under a policy outlined by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott in September, could be delayed to late December, with Defence Minister (DM) Peter Dutton noting the government would not "rush" the process.

Under the policy, Australia has prioritized the most vulnerable of refugee cases, such as women, children and families.

Porter said the family, originally from the war-torn city of Hom, had been through hell but would be well looked after once they arrived on Australia's doorstep.

"This family has been through quite a deal to arrive here in Australia," he told local media.

"There's some extent to which time and space are going to be very valuable commodities for this family when they arrive."

WA Premier Colin Barnett said he had been briefed on the family's arrival, and hoped they would be "made welcome" in the community.

The intake program will "pick up speed" in January and February next year as more refuges receive clearance, according to Porter.

The first Syrian refugees to touchdown on Australia shores will take place just four days after a Syrian passport was found on the body of one of the alleged Paris bombers, which has given rise to calls from a senior New South Wales state politician, Andrew Fraser, for the immediate scraping of the plan.

"(The Paris attacks) demonstrates why we do need a tough border setting but at the same time we can bring in people such as the Syrians who are fleeing a murderous regime," DM Dutton said on Monday. Endit