Three Illawarra MPs have joined 54 of their parliamentary colleagues in calling on the federal parliament to expand its intake of refugees fleeing Afghanistan.
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Wollongong MP Paul Scully, Keira MP Ryan Park and Shellharbour MP Anna Watson are signatories to a joint statement from NSW parliamentarians to their federal counterparts.
The statement says the acceptance of 3000 refugees is welcome, it "falls well short of the commitments made by other coalition partners".
It also says that many Afghanis in Australia are desperate to be reunited with their family members, who now found themselves in peril.
The full text of the statement is below:
"The plight of many minority groups is no longer assured with the Taliban again taking control of Afghanistan. Of equal importance, the human rights of women and girls is under direct threat, with increasing evidence that they face exclusion from education and employment, sexual slavery, violence and death at the hands of the Taliban.
"There is an urgent need to ensure a co-ordinated international response both for those at great risk who re main within Afghanistan, alongside those who have fled in the face of the Taliban and are now displaced. Many Afghanis within Australia, whose families remained behind, are desperate to be reunited with loved ones who now face great risks in their current situation.
"Australia has a proud history of providing safe haven, including accommodating 170,000 displaced per sons after World War II, resettling 80,000 Vietnamese in the decade following the end of the Vietnam War and 12,000 displaced persons from the Syrian and Iraq conflicts.
"In a joint statement, alongside 96 other nations, Australia committed to continue issuing travel documentation to designated Afghans and expressed a clear expectation of and commitment from the Taliban of their safe passage.
"Whilst Australia's announcement of a willingness to receive 3,000 Afghan refugee is welcome, it falls well short of the commitments made by other coalition partners in Afghanistan. Canada and Britain, for in stance, have each committed to resettle 20,000 refugees over the coming years. We call on the Federal Government to follow the example of these nations and increase our refugee intake, to provide a future to those fleeing the perils of a Taliban controlled Afghanistan and to honour the legacy of those brave Australian ADF personnel, and the Afghani allies, who fought in Australia's longest conflict, the Afghan War."
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