Australia gives 7,500 boatpeople 4 months to prove refugee status

SYDNEY - Agence France-Presse

Australia on May 21 gave 7,500 boatpeople until October to file a claim proving they are genuine refugees or be kicked out, declaring the “game is up” for illegal arrivals ripping off taxpayers.

Before the conservatives took power and adopted a tough line on the issue in 2013, an estimated 50,000 asylum-seekers flooded into Australia on more than 800 boats over the previous five years.

Hundreds more, many from war-torn Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Middle East, died at sea during the treacherous journey.

Of those arrivals, the old Labor government processed nearly 20,000, leaving 30,500 to the current administration.

Some 7,500 of them have yet to present their cases for asylum or are refusing to answer questions about their identity, while claiming welfare benefits, casting doubt on whether they really need protection.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said that if they fail to lodge a claim by October 1, they will be removed from the country and banned from re-entering.

“This is a very serious situation and it’s costing Australian taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year,” he said.

“So if people think that they can rip the Australian taxpayer off, if people think they can con the Australian taxpayer, then I’m sorry, the game’s up.

“We are prepared to support people who are legitimate refugees, but we aren’t going to support people who are just accessing welfare ... and then refusing to provide any information in relation to their protection claim.”

Refugee advocates reacted furiously, saying the government had sunk to “an impossible new low.”

“For years, these men, women and children have been waiting patiently to go through the proper process to be assessed as refugees, and find permanent safety in Australia,” said Shen Narayanasamy, human rights director of campaigners GetUp.