Four people have been granted asylum by the Fijian Government while about 20 more refugees are also in the country seeking asylum.
This was confirmed by Deputy Director of Immigration Edward Brown during a presentation at the National Security Strategy Green Paper Consultation Friday.
Details of the refugees were not divulged, but according to Mr Brown, Fiji as a signatory of the Convention And Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees under the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), was duty-bound to take in refugees.
Article two of the Convention states: “Every refugee has duties to the country in which he finds himself, which require in particular that he conform to its laws and regulations as well as to measures taken for the maintenance of public order.”
While article three states: “The contracting States shall apply the provisions of this convention to refugees without discrimination as to race, religion or country of origin.”
Brown said the Immigration Department did not have funds set aside for refugees, but was assisted by the UNHCR office in Canberra, Australia.
“Moving forward, what will be our stance in accepting refugees? There might come a time Government might approve ... OK we are going to take in 500 refugees this year, are we prepared for this?” Brown said.
Chairman of the Defence Review Committee Esala Teleni said while Fiji could not shy away from the global phenomenon, we must also look at the impact of refugees at a national level.
“Where do we draw the line in terms of national interest and global interest? National interest will always have to be paramount to us but sometimes we have to trade national interest for global recognition,” he said.