Advocates, refugees hope for new page in immigration
In a major reshuffled Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil have had their portfolios stripped and handed to Tony Burke taking on the tricky immigration dossier that has cabinet prominence.
Refugees and migrant rights advocates lauded Mr Giles performance overall who was sharply criticised by the opposition for months after a landmark High Court decision in November ruled indefinite immigration detention unlawful and unconstitutional.
Melbourne-based Asylum Seeker Resource Centre founder described Mr Giles as “the fairest, most principled & compassionate Minister for Immigration” in more than two decades.
This message was also echoed by Settlement Council of Australia chair Melissa Monteiro who noted some of his achievements including granted permanent protection to 19,000 asylum seekers on temporary visas and increasing Australia’s humanitarian intake from 12,000 to 20,000 places annually.
For a group of asylum-seekers who have been holding a sit-in at Ms O’Neil’s electorate office for two weeks before moving on Monday to the Home Affairs offices in Melbourne, they are resolute in continuing their peaceful protest to gain permanent protection
Dubbed the fast-track system cohort, there are between 10,000 to 12,000 asylum seekers left in legal limbo in Australia with no clear pathway to residency.
The former coalition government established an assessment scheme to resolve the visa applications of more than 30,000 asylum seekers who arrived by boat between 2012 and 2014.
The fast-track system restricts the types of visas people can access and limits their avenues of appeal.
But the policy has been criticised for failing to live up to its name.
On average, it takes up to six years for people to receive their first temporary visa.
“I am praying for a compassionate person to end uncertainty for us all. We have been begging for help for years,” asylum-seeker Milad Makvandi said.
Her came to Australia by boat in early 2012 escaping Iran for his political activities as a student leader and has been on bridging visas ever since.
Iranian nurse Mahboobeh Mirshahi, an organiser of the Melbourne sit-in, urged for a resolution of the visa insecurity.
She left Iran with her family to escape discrimination as a religious minority and was later detained on Christmas Island for several months before being released into the community on bridging visas.
“We need a response. We request the Minister of Immigration to announce a definite and immediate decision for the victims of the fast track policy,” she said.
The reshuffle was spurred by cabinet ministers Linda Burney and Brendan O’Connor announcing they wouldn’t recontest the next election while assistant minister Carol Brown stepped back because of health reasons with Mr Burke sworn in Monday.
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