“We saw a tinnie with two blokes with shorts and singlet … one of them raised his stubby as if proposing a toast. ‘G’day mate’, he shouted, ‘welcome to Australia’.” – former SA governor and refugee Hieu Van Le on arriving in Australia.

Any day now, Australia will welcome its millionth refugee since the second world war.

This milestone, which the Refugee Council of Australia believes will happen by the end of this year, is a moment to mark the transformative contributions that refugees and their families have made to our society and economy over seven decades.

But Australia’s millionth refugee also arrives at a moment when the system to protect them is under immense strain and struggling for popular support.

A vocal minority is expressing rage on the streets and social media about immigration, with many making no distinction between refugees (who face danger of persecution in their home county) and migrants (who choose to move to another country, usually for work, education or family reasons). Both are met with the same backlash, borne of grievance and fear.

The same phenomenon is being seen globally. In the US, President Donald Trump has blocked many thousands of refugees already approved for US admission.

He also plans to restrict the number of refugees next year to just 7,500 – a huge decrease from the ceiling of 125,000 during the Biden administration. Trump is also planning to fill those spots mainly with white South Africans.

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