Call to resettle Taliban-fleeing Afghans
Human rights and refugee advocates have urged the Morrison government to put in place an emergency humanitarian intake plan for people in Afghanistan at risk from the Taliban.
The Taliban has taken Kabul after the US withdrew from the country.
Since April, hundreds of locally engaged Afghans and their families had been brought to Australia, with more expected to be evacuated in coming weeks.
More than 250 Australian defence personnel will be deployed to Afghanistan to support three RAAF aircraft to evacuate citizens and visa holders under a US-led operation.
The US sent about 3000 extra troops to evacuate embassy staff and others as the capital fell.
The UK also said it was deploying troops to help British nationals and local translators flee.
Australia resettled 12,000 Syrians at the height of the conflict there.
But there are concerns communities such as Hindus and Sikhs, and ethnic minority Hazaras, are at grave risk of violence and death.
Canada over the weekend offered resettlement to more than 20,000 people at risk and the United States is accelerating its visa application process.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with national security ministers on Monday to discuss the next steps.
"As in any crisis situation, the Australian government's priority is to ensure the safety of its citizens," Mr Morrison said in a statement.
"We have over 130 Australians in Afghanistan, working in the UN, non-government organisations, and elsewhere, and we are working to bring them and their families home.
"We are also assisting those who have been granted humanitarian visas, and others who are in the process of applying for protection."
He said the Taliban must cease all violence against civilians and respect the human rights of all Afghans.
"Those preparing to leave the country must be able to do so without threat or hindrance. We will continue to work with key partners in the days ahead to enable this safe passage."
Australia has a 13,750 cap on its humanitarian refugee intake.
Barat Batoor, organiser at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said the government should spell out a clear plan to evacuate and protect as many people as possible.
"Australia is home to the fourth-largest Hazara population in the world," he said.
"There are 1000s of people in the Australian community who have family members at grave risk right now from the Taliban."
Amnesty International Australia's Dr Graham Thom said another positive step would be to indefinitely extend people on temporary visas.
Former Chief of Army Peter Leahy the government should engage with the Taliban to get as many people out as possible.
He said Australia should be looking at a similar offer to that from Canada.
"If we look what happened after Vietnam, just terrific group of people came in, the same after Tiananmen Square, we should be opening up to people, we owe them a lot," he told the ABC.
Since 2013, Australia has granted visas to 1800 people who worked with its forces out of Afghanistan.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the government should have acted quicker to ensure the safety of Afghans who assisted Australia.
He said the nation had moral and national security obligations to show people who assisted Australia would not be left behind.
Australia has joined dozens of other countries in releasing a statement calling on all parties to "respect and facilitate, the safe and orderly departure of foreign nationals and Afghans who wish to leave the country".
