Decision to grant residency to thousands of immigrants divides opinion
The Coalition has slammed the Albanese Government's plan to grant permanent residency to 19,000 refugees, accusing them of risking a fresh wave of boat arrivals and people smugglers.
But Labor has clarified that Operation Sovereign Borders is still running and the people this change applies to have already been in Australia for years.
Human rights advocate Craig Foster told Today the government's operation on the water still exists and any "fear-mongering about an armada of boats has to stop".
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Human rights advocate Craig Foster told Today the government's operation on the water still exists and any "fear-mongering about an armada of boats has to stop". Today
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"Surely we can have a reasonable discussion," he told Today.
"Albo said 'we can be strong on borders without being weak on humanity', but I would like him to say 'we can be strong on humanity without being weak on borders', once we turn that around we are going somewhere."
For people like Abdul Noori, who fled Afghanistan as a teen in 2013, the government's decision "is hard to believe" after years of back and forth on his refugee status.
"Coming over here as a young boy was extremely difficult," Abdul told Today.
"The 10 years being in limbo and not having hope for the future - it damages you mentally, physically, it's tough to go through and no one should go through this."
For people like Abdul Noori, who fled Afghanistan as a teen in 2013, the government's decision "is hard to believe" after years of back-and-forth on his refugee status. Today
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Abdul said yesterday's news means so much to him and the 19,000 others who have been in limbo with immigration and it's difficult to comprehend what it might finally mean for his future.
"I'm still processing it, the news is out there, but we have gone back and forth so many times with these policies, it's hard for us to believe until we actually see the changes - until we actually see people holding those visas," he said.
See what else Abdul and Craig had to say in the video above
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