Refugee claims ‘exaggerated’

Claims Bunbury was set to become a major refugee resettlement centre have been shot down by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

The department said reports the city would become home to 1000 Burmese refugees, which would make one in 35 people in city of Bunbury a refugee, in the next two years were incorrect.

Bunbury MLA John Castrilli called the claims ‘‘a clear exaggeration’’.

A department spokeswoman denied that 300 refugee families would be resettled in Bunbury by December next year and said any immigration plans required local, State and Federal government approval.

‘‘These were very preliminary discussions and Bunbury is a potential city only,’’ she said.

BunburyMayorDavid Smith said the department had initiated talks last year to find out whether Bunbury was a suitable place to resettle the migrants.

The department met with the Mayor again three weeks ago to continue their discussions.

‘‘They told me the report they had done (on the city) had been positive and there was a strong possibility it could happen,’’ Mr Smith said.

‘‘I think Bunbury does have the resources to house refugees and the ones I’ve spoken to have given a remarkably strong contribution to the city.

‘‘I believe Bunbury is a welcoming community and the city has a responsibility to absorb the refugees.’’

Mr Castrilli said that there needed to be investigations into the possibility of whether Bunbury was equipped to house refugees.

‘‘The services and infrastructure need to be looked it to make sure we have the support available before even considering people,’’ he said.

‘‘In a sense the meetings so far have only been a scouting exercise and Bunbury is one of a number of locations being investigated.

‘‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and start jumping at shadows.’’