AAP-A spike in the number Fijians seeking asylum in Australia has been blamed for significant delays in processing thousands of migration review cases.
A principal member of both the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) and Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT), Denis O'Brien, has revealed thousands of migration cases are more than 12 months old due to the workload created by refugees.
Mr O'Brien told a Senate hearing in Canberra on Tuesday that the major factor in the delays to migration cases was a significant increase in refugee cases from Fiji.
The development follows reports from refugee advocates of increasing numbers of Fijians seeking asylum in Australia to escape persecution at the hands of the Fijian military government of interim prime minister Frank Bainimarama .
"We've had a large number of review applications in relation to Fiji applicants. I think that's probably the most significant factor that's impacted on the increase in our numbers," Mr O'Brien said.
"We've now got I think over 2000 of our (MRT) cases that are now more than 12 months old and that's a concern to me because of course that means that applicants have had to put their lives on hold for 12 months and we just haven't been able to get to their cases."
"We've now got I think over 2000 of our (MRT) cases that are now more than 12 months old and that's a concern to me because of course that means that applicants have had to put their lives on hold for 12 months and we just haven't been able to get to their cases."
The MRT reviews decisions made in respect of general visas such as visitor, student, partner, family, business, skilled visas and the RRT deals with decisions made in respect of refugee visas.
It was also revealed in the hearing that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship has improved its performance in terms of RRT cases being decided within the 90 day target period, from 69 per cent in 2009/10 to 77 per cent in the first quarter of 2010/11.
The average days taken last year was 99 days.
4 comments:
Send them all back to Fiji including those jiggery-pokery deceitful Democratic advocates.
I support the Joke...ops..Jake
If Frank and his silly supporters were doing such a wonderful job in Fiji, then why are so many Fijians trying to leave Fiji in the 1st. place ?
lol...I reckon they should check on the last time they legally flew from Fiji to OZ. It wouldn't surprise me, if they were on the run since 2004, yet the coup was in 2006...lol!
Bloody coconuts!
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