Australia invites visit from UNHCR head
Updated
Australia's government has invited the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, to Australia for an official visit.
Speaking in Canberra at an event to mark World Refugee Day, the immigration minister, Chris Evans, says the visit will help strengthen relations with the UN's refugee agency.
He's also announced that 13,500 places will be allocated to the next humanitarian and refugee intake.
"The 2008-09 refugee and humanitarian intake will draw equally from Africa, the Middle East and Asia," he said.
"Each of these regions will be allocated 33 per cent with the remaining one per cent allocated for contingencies.
"In addition of course there's 500 further places have been set aside specifically for Iraqi refugees."
