CANBERRA – The asylum seekers who arrive by boat have now been permitted to bring family members to Australia.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles recently announced that the government has introduced changes to immigration policy and reunion application visas by boat refugees would no more be put under the lowest priority in processing.
The former government introduced the provision as a deterrent to prevent asylum seekers from coming to Australia by boat but the recent change is expected to affect the visa applications of thousands of family members of boat refugees who are exploring options to come to Australia, with those from countries such as Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka most impacted.
The new change will affect the refugees on permanent protection visas and not those on temporary visas with Andrew Giles advocating the change based on ‘exacerbating mental health issues’ and imposing great and enduring uncertainty on lives of those who had been separated.
Besides the change, to expedite the visa applications, the government said it had added more immigrant staff for individuals in complicated situations; the number of employees now stands at 40 instead of 20.
The change for boat refugees was not welcomed by opposition which said the Labor had made it easier for asylum seekers to come to Australia by boat.
“Labor’s decision has gifted the people smugglers a new marketing campaign because they can now tell desperate people that if you reach Australia, you will be allowed to settle here, and your family will be allowed to join you,” Opposition Immigration Spokesman Dan Tehan said.
“Temporary protection visas were a key pillar of Operation Sovereign Borders that helped stop the boats and end the deaths at sea,” he highlighted.
On the other hand, Jana Favero, the advocacy director at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, welcomed the decision, and said refugees had been emphasizing the government to prioritise family reunions but said the government needed to extend the change to those on temporary protection visas along with increasing the number of permanent visas granted to refugees.
Extension in Offshore Detention Policy
The Labor government – which is under criticism from far right groups- also rushed a bill through the parliament to renew the already expired offshore detention policy on Feb. 7. The policy was introduced in 2012 to deal with a sudden spike in the number of refugees arriving by boat.
Under the measure, the Australian government will send boat refugees to a third country while processing their claims.
Refugees with a valid claim will then be settled in another developed country like New Zealand or the United States.
The policy expired in October 2022, but the government did not take any measure until very recently and if the bill passes the parliament, asylum seekers would continue to live in Nauru, a small island nation in the Pacific Ocean.
As the bill needs approval from both houses of the parliament, it is expected to take another two months.
