A leading refugee advocate has called on the Turnbull government to begin negotiations to resettle people held on Manus Island and Nauru in Canada, capitalising on Justin Trudeau's record in welcoming nearly 40,000 Syrians in two years.
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Melbourne community organiser Anne Horrigan-Dixon said the announcement that US President Donald Trump would honour a deal signed with the Obama administration last year to resettle some refugees raised a series of questions, including how many people being held by Australia would move to the US and how long the process would take.
Mr Trump's controversial executive order on Saturday suspended entry to the US for refugees for 120 days and barred Syrians indefinitely. It will also block entry for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Though the crackdown was expected, US Homeland Security officials continued interviews of refugees held by Australia on Nauru as late as Friday.
Ms Horrigan-Dixon received the medal of the Order of Australia in last week's Australia Day honours, recognition for more than 30 years of work to support waves of refugees arriving in Australia, including from Europe, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.
She said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull should immediately explain how many people would go to the US.
"Australia needs to start thinking about how we can work with local groups in Canada," she said.
"The major problem remains the 1500-odd people being held on Manus Island and in Papua New Guinea, because no other country will accept them.
"Justin Trudeau and his government have welcomed people. Maybe we need a delegation over there, and Australia could take people Canada would have otherwise taken to get people off these islands."
An adviser to the St Mary's House of Welcome project in Fitzroy and founder of a series of local engagement and English-language programs, Ms Horrigan-Dixon said the Coalition and Labor had denied thousands of people the chance to build successful lives in Australia's cities and towns.
She said the reinstatement of temporary protection visas by the Abbott government in 2013 meant many asylum seekers living in the community were in limbo, while those given permanent resettlement were thriving.
"They want to be here and they want to work and settle. The thing they say they love the most is our democracy, our stable system of government and the inclusion and safety of Australia," Ms Horrigan-Dixon said.
"What we set out to do is think how would we treat these people if they were our own children?
"Everything has been teamwork, because we've had a common cause."
Canada has accepted 39,671 Syrians since November 2015.
"After these poor people have suffered for years on Manus and Nauru, they need to be somewhere welcoming and Justin Trudeau has shown he's prepared to provide that," she said.
