South Sudanese-Australians say they are being discriminated against after being told they will no longer be able to privately sponsor refugees to come to Australia.

The Guardian revealed on Thursday morning that the Community Support Program (CSP), a minor element of Australia’s humanitarian migration program, was being essentially restricted to eight “priority resettlement” countries. Nationals of several other specific countries that were previously considered for supported resettlement, such as South Sudan, Somalia and Iran, are now excluded and will not be able to access the program.

It seems [to be] based around the African gangs issue in Melbourne South Sudan community leader Atem Jok

The Guardian understands the priority countries are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Bhutan, Syria and Iraq.

The South Sudanese community leader Atem Jok has been seeking to sponsor his brother and sisters, who are displaced over the border in Kenya’s massive Kakuma refugee camp. They have been registered with the UNHCR.

When the CSP was a pilot program, South Sudanese nationals were able to apply but they have since been removed. Jok said he has not been able to find out why South Sudan was removed, or how he can assist his family.

“My family members meet all of the criteria for resettlement under the program, every one – except for the country of origin,” he said. “South Sudanese were able to access the program in previous years but I have spoken with many organisations and no one can tell me why South Sudan has been taken off.”

Jok, an engineer in the Queensland city of Toowoomba, said his family members meet the CSP requirements of being aged between 18 and 50, having functional English (they hold postgraduate degrees) and have already been offered a job in Australia.

The global special humanitarian visa is for people subject to substantial discrimination amounting to a gross violation of human rights in their home country, and from which they have fled. They also must be proposed by a person or organisation in Australia.

“My family meets exactly that,” Jok said. “We don’t know what’s the reason, it seems absolute discrimination based around the African gangs issue in Melbourne, especially with South Sudanese being the target ethnic group. This is absolutely absurd to see my beloved country, Australia, making such decisions based around stereotyping instead of on the basis of those who are in need.”

James Mayen, from Melbourne’s South Sudanese community, said the CSP’s pilot predecessor was a valuable program. He was able to sponsor family members to come to Australia, where they have rebuilt lives, including finding jobs, after years of displacement.

“But we are now excluded; this is a very clear discrimination,” he said. “My disappointment is very great, because I have seen the benefits of this very good program. People have come to this country and contributed to the society.

“This has made people feel that we don’t belong. We are Australian citizens; why should we be excluded?”

Mayen said he would seek answers from the government. “We should have been consulted. Where do they want us to go?”

The Community Support Program this year offers up to 1,000 places, taken from within the broader program of 16,250 places. It allows community groups, businesses, families or individuals to sponsor and support a refugee to come to Australia. But each place privately sponsored reduces by one the government’s resettlement commitment.

The Department of Home Affairs says “applicants must reside in a priority resettlement country as determined by the Australian government”.

A spokesman for the department told the Guardian that settlement priorities for Australia’s humanitarian program, including the Community Support Program, are determined each year by the government.

“People in humanitarian situations from the Middle East, Africa and Asia continue to be a resettlement priority under Australia’s 2017-18 humanitarian program.”

The program was previously the Community Proposal pilot, which began in 2013, but has faced criticism for being prohibitively expensive. To sponsor an individual refugee costs about $48,000, a family of five about $100,000. It has also been criticised for the “offset” of the government’s commitment.

The offset has been criticised as failing to increase the sum of protection offered by Australia and as an abrogation of the government’s commitment to the resettlement of refugees in favour of outsourcing resettlement to private individuals or community groups.

Jana Favero from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said the government should reconsider its exclusions of certain nationalities.

“Eligibility for the Community Support Program should be based on whether someone is a refugee or not, full stop. Excluding certain refugee groups, even though they are fleeing war and persecution, takes us down a very dangerous path of discrimination.”

Favero said a reworked and improved CSP had the potential to provide new pathways to protection for those around the world who needed it.

“The community support program has the potential to be expanded, affordable and more inclusive, rather than this latest unexplained change which is exclusive and disturbing.”

