SPECIAL humanitarian visas have been almost all used up by illegal boat arrivals as more than 20,000 people wait overseas to be considered.
Just 655 special humanitarian program visas have been granted so far this financial year, a parliamentary estimates committee heard this week, compared to 7668 issued nine years ago.
Boat arrivals have also taken a bigger portion of the 13,750 refugee places available each year in Australia.
This financial year, 3940 asylum seekers who arrived by boat were granted visas compared with 16 in 2007 when Labor won government.
Salvation Army volunteer Simon Hartley has worked with families whose relatives wait for years in grave circumstances because special humanitarian visas, which allow families to be reunited in Australia, have dried up.
“The waiting time has expanded out now to who knows, the department can’t tell you. You can’t have people waiting for ever and ever,” he said.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the rush of boat arrivals was stranding thousands of legitimate refugees in camps.
“Those waiting offshore for a protection visa in some of the most desperate situations imaginable are the real voiceless in the asylum debate,” he said.
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen’s spokesman said 6000 places went to offshore applicants, many in camps, with the number of visas 2000 more than nine years ago.
He admitted boat arrivals were eliminating opportunities for refugees under the special humanitarian program.
“The government has long said that boat arrivals would see fewer places for genuine refugees offshore – which is why the government wants to implement the Malaysia arrangement and offshore processing,” he said.
Meanwhile, it was revealed yesterday that refugees who arrive in NSW legally are worse off than in any other state.
“NSW is not meeting its responsibility to humanitarian entrants as well as it could,” a report by Auditor-General Peter Achterstraat said.
The report said refugees in NSW were worse off in health, housing and employment than those in other states.
Department of Premier and Cabinet director-general Chris Eccles rejected Mr Achterstraat’s findings.
Views: 0