Resettlement record disputed

It's all in how you define it.

Treasurer Chris Bowen bristled this week when a reporter suggested Australia took relatively few asylum seekers,

''I don't quite agree with the premise that Australia takes relatively few refugees on global terms,'' he said. ''I understand where you're coming from in terms of the 43 million displaced people in the world, either refugees or in refugee-like situations. Yes, the 20,000 people that we take is a small proportion of that and always will be. But we do take more refugees per head of Australian population than any other nation in the world. We take either the second or third most in absolute terms, depending on how you calibrate your calculation.''

As the Refugee Council of Australia points out, in 2012 Australia gave refugee protection to 8367 asylum seekers and resettled 5937 refugees from other countries. That made us number 24, on a per capita basis, in the world.

Australia ranks third in the world for officially resettling refugees. But most countries do not have official resettlement programs for refugees, simply adjusting their intake according to the ebbs and flows of arrivals.

In 2012, Pakistan hosted 1.6 million asylum seekers and refugees, Iran hosted 868,200, and Germany hosted 589,700.

Refugee Council of Australia chief executive Paul Power said while Australia had a generous refugee resettlement program, it was false to claim it was more generous in receiving refugees than any other nation.

''Less than 1 per cent of the world's refugees get access to resettlement in any year, with the bulk of the global protection of refugees being carried out through asylum processes,'' he said.

''Even a quick look at the global figures shows that the increased flow of asylum seekers to Australia is relatively small in international terms. While Australia received 29,610 asylum applications in 2012, Turkey received 325,301, Jordan 135,946, Lebanon 134,896, South Sudan 101,480 and France 97,643.''