No. Some people believe that people seeking asylum who come to Australia by boat are “queue jumpers”, and are taking the place of people who have registered with UNHCR or those who are waiting in refugee camps.
The UN resettlement system does not operate in this way. A queue implies that resettlement is an orderly process and by waiting for a period of time, a person will reach the front of the queue. The UN resettlement system prioritises asylum seekers for resettlement according to considered needs, rather than waiting time.
For example, refugees waiting for resettlement may return home if conditions in their home country improve.
In 2017, there were 25.4 million refugees worldwide. In the same year, the number of globally available resettlement places was reduced from 163,000 to 75,000, despite UNHCR assessing 1.2 million refugees were in need of resettlement.
The Refugee Council of Australia says that if this global queue did actually exist, people joining the back of the queue might wait more than 180 years for resettlement.