 The
end of TPVs (Temporary
Protection Visas)
some good and bad news in Labor's first budget
Wednesday,
14 May 2008
In
Labor's first budget announced last night, some very important changes
have been made to the Immigration Act. However, a whole lot of other changes
still need to be made. Detention centres, for one. They need to be closed
altogether, not just made more comfortable. Below, some more specific
comments from a range of sources. RAC-Vic
Some comments from
the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
The 417 Ministerial
process is for those asylum seekers who are refused refugee protection
visas on their refugee claims YET have a humanitarian claim. The Minister
for immigration is empowered to decide this on the basis of guidelines.
His is a non-compellable, non- reviewable decision. Sometimes the Refugee
Review Tribunal will say that, while they cannot grant a visa on refugee
grounds (the five grounds listed in the UN Refugee Convention), however,
they may say there are compelling humanitarian reasons thus signalling
that the humanitarian route be taken. Other countries have a Complementary
Protection process for these cases. Australia does not. We have only the
417 Ministerial process.
Currently there are
2000 x 417 decisions awaiting the new Minister. The Minister himself has
said the process is flawed and "he does not want to play God".
The new Government is looking at fixing this flawed system. We ask that
no decisions be made under the flawed system because people's lives are
in the balance. Many of the present caseload of people are "legacy
cases" left over from successive ministers in the previous government.
Some have been here 10 years and more, some have Australian children and
Australian spouses, some have elderly parents and Australian families,
some are just too sick and damaged to go back to countries where they
have no-one to care for them and some will face death and persecution
upon return. These are all reasons why they need a Humanitarian decision;
in other words, a positive 417 decision from the Minister.
ASRC welcomes end
to TPVs - but what about Work Rights?
The Asylum Seeker
Resource Centre welcomes the end of Temporary Protection Visas (TPV) as
announced in the 2008 Budget. This was a flawed Howard/ Ruddock policy
designed to deter asylum seekers. It failed in that more people sought
asylum after it was introduced than ever before. The Labor government
has kept the promise to refugees, to end the inhumane TPV which separated
families for years, and should be applauded for this.
The real hot budget
issue for asylum seekers is work rights. While the Government proposes
to increase the Skilled Migration intake by 31,000, they are simultaneously
denying 3000 people already in Australia the right to contribute to addressing
the skills shortage. Research undertaken by the Network of Asylum Seeker
Agencies in Victoria (NASAVIC) showed that over 70% of the Victorian asylum
seekers had skills and professions on the Governments most wanted worker’s
list.
“Instead
of allowing people to work while their claims are being processed, the
government presides over their financial collapse and then steps in with
a $5.6 million rescue program for some. This rescue would not be necessary
for most people if they could work to feed themselves and their children
and live with dignity while they await a visa decision,” says
Pamela Curr of the ASRC.
“It makes
neither economic nor moral sense to impose poverty and destitution on
people in the first place, and it is reprehensible when the country is
crying out for workers,” says Pamela Curr.
Grant of work rights
to asylum seekers - Summary of research
Skill
statistics
211 work rights and
Medicare ineligible asylum seekers in NSW and Victoria were surveyed in
2005. Of the
211 surveyed, 74% had skills recognised on the Skilled Occupation List
for the General Skilled Migration Program Occupations included
-
Engineers
-
Teachers
-
Tailors
-
Social Workers
-
Computer Programmers
-
Agricultural Scientists
Of those listed on
the Skilled Occupation List, 45% had skills that were considered in high
demand according to the Migration Occupations in Demand List, these included:
-
Accountants
-
Chefs
-
Electricians
-
Hairdressers
-
Nurses
-
Dentists
-
43% of those surveyed
held professional qualifications
-
27% held or were
in the process of attaining a Bachelor Degree or higher
-
33% of those surveyed
held trade qualifications
-
The majority of
those surveyed were willing to work in rural or regional areas
Economic statistics
Nationally it is estimated
up to 1500 adult work age asylum seekers, are presently prohibited from
gaining employment either at the primary stage or during ministerial stage
of the protection application process.
Research shows that
the cohort of the 211 asylum seekers who undertook the skills audit would
have potentially added up to $26 million to the Australian GDP over a
3 year period.
Assuming that the
cohort approximates the skills makeup of the majority of asylum seekers
on Bridging Visa E then the 1500 estimated asylum seekers of working age
would make a significant contribution. Over a three year period asylum
seeking BVE holders in Australia would add a potential $188 million to
the Australian economy.
More conservatively,
assuming that only 75% of the population of asylum seeking BVE holders
obtained minimum wage employment, it would still add over $75 million
dollars to the economy over 3 years.
The cost of destitution
The link between long-term
destitution and complex mental and physical health issues has been observed
by the agencies assisting asylum seekers. Community agencies and church
groups have provided the shelter and food needed to keep people alive
while undergoing the refugee status determination process.
Economic costings
were undertaken by Gwilym Croucher Melbourne University 2006
Skill analysis was
undertaken by the Network of Asylum Seeker Agencies in Victoria and the
Asylum Seeker Centre NSW
Pamela Curr
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre ASRC
And one from the news
hounds at Crikey.com.au:
Why aren't
we letting skilled asylum seekers work?
Margaret
Simons writes:
Amid all the hoopla
about the skilled migration program and the Budget, another significant
story has been buried.
The Rudd Government
has delivered on its promise to abolish the Temporary Protection Visa
system, under which asylum seekers found to be refugees were denied access
to unemployment benefits, pensions and English lessons.
There are also small
increases in humanitarian refugee intake quotas – an extra 500 paces
for Iraqis in 2008/09 and 750 extra general humanitarian places in 2009-2010.
See the budget figuring and explanations here.
Refugee advocate groups
are applauding these changes – but otherwise remain p-ssed off with
the new Government for failing to give asylum seekers the right to work
while their applications are processed.
Research published
last year suggests that seven out of ten asylum seekers who are already
here have skills on the Government's most wanted list – yet they
are denied the right to work while awaiting the processing of their applications.
Meanwhile, the Budget allocates $1.3 million to bringing an extra 37,500
skilled migrants into the country.
The research, by Melbourne
University doctoral candidate Gwilym Croucher and Asylum Seeker Resource
Centre co-ordinator Sophie Dutertre, involved a survey of 211 work rights
and Medicare ineligible asylum seekers in NSW and Victoria in 2005.
The survey found that
three quarters had occupations on the list for the General Skilled Migration
Program. They included engineers, teachers, tailors, social workers, computer
programmers and agricultural scientists. 45% of those with occupations
on the list had skills in high demand. They included accountants, chefs,
electricians, hairdressers, nurses and dentists.
43% of those surveyed
had professional qualifications, and 27% were in the process of getting
a Bachelor degree or higher. A third held trade qualifications. Most of
those surveyed said they were willing to work in rural and regional areas.
The Asylum Seeker
Resource Centre estimates that up to 3,000 adult work-age asylum seekers
are presently prohibited from working. If the surveyed group is representative,
Croucher calculates that asylum seekers presently dependent on charity
for basic support could add a potential $188 million to the economy.
Asylum Seeker Resource
Centre CEO Kon Karapanagiotidis has described the result as "absurd".
The reason, historically,
is part of the package of legislation aimed at deterrence of unauthorised
arrivals, together with quieting fears that refugees might take jobs from
Australians.
On the other hand,
other recent research by Monash University demographer Bob Birrell has
suggested that skilled migrants don't land jobs that match their qualifications
because of their poor English.
Just a few weeks ago,
Birrell called on the government to halt the skilled migration program
and to focus on spending to give migrants already in Australia the language
skills they need to impress employers.
Doubtless the same
concerns would apply to skilled asylum seekers, which means it may be
doubly good that TPV holders will now be able to access English lessons.
But the two sets of
research together do seem to raise some questions about why the overall
program is being managed as it is.
Changes announced
in Immigration portfolio: some links to Immigration Dept pages
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