Australia Continues To Suspend Afghan And Sri Lanka Asylum Applications
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship is alerting members of the Afghan and Sri Lankan communities of the important changes to the processing of asylum claims of people arriving in Australia.
The Australian government announced on April 9 that processing of new asylum applications from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan would be suspended immediately.
This suspension is a result of the evolving circumstances in these two countries.
Applications from Sri Lanka will be suspended for three months and applications from Afghanistan will be suspended for six months.
The combined effect of this suspension and the changing circumstances in these two countries will mean that it is likely that, in the future, more asylum claims from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will be refused.
The UNHCR is reviewing country conditions in both these countries and related guidelines for refugee status determination.
The Australian Government believes that asylum seekers should only be granted the right to live in Australia if they are genuinely in need of protection.
These measures will ensure that Australia’s refugee processing system continues to recognise those genuinely in need of our protection. Irregular maritime arrivals claiming asylum will continue to be subject to mandatory detention, including those subject to the processing suspension.
The government also announced it would crack down on people smuggling by introducing measures to stop the flow of funds and support to people smuggling ventures.
Tough new powers will result in the deregistration of remittance dealers that facilitate access to funds for people smuggling ventures and other unlawful activities including money laundering.
A stronger regulatory regime for remittance dealers will ensure law enforcement agencies receive better financial intelligence, to enable disruption and deterrence of people smuggling.
A Criminal Intelligence Fusion Centre will be established to detect and prevent organised crime, including operations set up to finance people smuggling into Australia.
These measures will make it tougher for people smugglers to ply their trade and bring additional rigour to the processing of claims for protection.
Topics: 2010, Afghanistan, AFP, Anti-People Smuggling and Other Measures Bill, ASIO, ATO, AUSTRAC, AUSTRAC CEO, Australia, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Australian Tax Office, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, Bill, border, Centrelink, Christmas Island, crime, crimes, criminal activity, criminal code, Criminal Intelligence Fusion Centre, death, foreign, foreign intelligence, Governance, government, Hazaras, human smuggling, human trafficking, illegal operations, immigrants, immigration, imprisonment, law enforcement, legal reform, material support, Migration Act, military conflict, minorities, minority, money laundering, monitor, news, organised crime, overcrowding, penalties, people smuggling, peple smuggling, prison, protection, refugee, Refugees Convention, remittance dealers, safety, security, serious harm, smuggling, society, Sri Lanka, Taliban, UNHCR
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