BBC: Australia in African refugee ban

By Nick Bryant BBC News, Sydney

A freeze on the settlement of refugees from Africa - including those from Sudan's Darfur region - has been announced by the Australian government.

Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said the refugees had trouble integrating, and other parts of the world such as Iraq and Burma were greater priorities.

The freeze will last until mid-2008, and there are no guarantees that Africans will be admitted after then.

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'Xenophobic' jibe

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One community leader said they were making an immense contribution to the economy by taking jobs which many Australians simply did not want to do.

Certainly, there is a nativistic streak in parts of the Australian electorate.

In previous campaigns the Prime Minister John Howard government has benefited from concerns over immigration - especially in regional seats.

Only last year the town of Tamworth in New South Wales voted against hosting a trial refugee resettlement programme after the Sudanese were branded as criminals by the local mayor.

So fierce was the condemnation that the council was forced to reverse that decision.

I've said it before, and I've said it again. A lot of Australians are just downright racist. I've never had a personal out and out experience myself, but a "xenophobic vibe" is just the right way to put it. And the further away you get from the cities, the worse the vibe gets.

No, I'm not being judgmental. New Zealand wasn't like that and both countries are very similar in a lot of ways. I'm not as comfortable in Australia as I am in New Zealand. Doesn't that tell you something?