'Riskier tenants': Australian refugees face housing discrimination despite low vacancy rates

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) — In Australia, landlords are discriminating against refugees as "riskier tenants," according to a new peer-reviewed study.

While rental vacancy rates are at an all-time low, refugees in Australia are having a particularly hard time finding a home because of the discrimination they regularly face, Australian broadcaster SBS News reported on Thursday citing an article in international journal Housing Studies.

The study gathered perspectives from landlords and real estate agents to show how common discrimination can be, with one of the respondents saying: "Probably 80% of landlords refuse to rent to anyone that (is) black."

It also showed that some landlords saw refugees as aggressive enough to damage the house, calling them "angry and war-torn."

One of the landlords said refugees would bring chaos because "their countries are so damaged."

"One of the things that were quite striking was about half the lessors blatantly saying they would discriminate against people, and they didn't see why they shouldn't be able to do that with their own properties," said lead author Anna Ziersch.