Migration Amendment (Humanitarian Visa Intake) Bill 2014
Wednesday 1 October 2014 @ 10.54 a.m. | Immigration
The Migration Amendment (Humanitarian Visa Intake) Bill 2014 has been introduced into the Federal Senate to ensure that the Minister is unable to grant fewer than 20,000 humanitarian visas per financial year.
The Bill
The executive government is the arm of government responsible for the migration programme and the total number of visas to be issued under each subclass annually. This bill will attempt to increase the total number of humanitarian visas issued each year by amending the Migration Act 1958 to prevent the preclusion of processing or granting a visa at any time in a financial year when fewer than 20,000 humanitarian visas have been granted. The bill will call for greater transparency in the conduct of the executive government by requiring the Minister to make quarterly statements to Parliament setting out how many humanitarian visas of each class have been granted.
The amendment proposed by the bill serves as Australia’s urgent response to the pressing humanitarian crisis in the Middle East. Millions of people have been victims of violence and displacement and Senator Hanson-Young adds:
“Australia must uphold its obligations under the Refugee Convention and provide sanctuary to those in need.”
The Senator reproached the action of the Federal Government for recklessly slashing Australia’s refugee intake by more than 6,000 places since its election victory.
“This was a short-sighted move which has left Australia lagging behind comparable countries who have sought to increase their support in light of the ongoing global humanitarian crisis.”
She points out the further irony in Australia’s commitment of troops to assist the new war in Iraq yet at the same time maintaining their refusal to increase Australia’s refugee intake.
Contrast with Other Migration Bills
The current bill comes in stark contrast to the Federal Government’s recent moves to further hobble the Australian migration process. The Migration Amendment (Character and General Visa Cancellation) Bill 2014 and the Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Bill 2014 were introduced by the Minister for Immigration, Scott Morrison, into the House of Representatives last week.
The measures of those two bills are to maintain the current government’s protection reform agenda and make it clear that there will be no permanent protection for those who travel to Australia illegally. The measures will support a robust protection status determination process and enable a tailored approach to better prioritise and assess claims and support the removal of unsuccessful asylum seekers.
In contrast, the current bill would demand that the government ensure that people who are fleeing war, torture and persecution are able to apply for and be granted humanitarian visas if the Minister has granted fewer than 20,000 visas in the specified financial year.
Senator Hanson-Young implores that:
“It is not beyond Australia's remit to increase our commitment to refugees and asylum seekers fleeing war, torture and persecution. Germany alone has committed a total of 20,000 places to Syrian refugees; this is over two thirds of the total resettlement places offered across the whole of Europe. Similarly, the Swedish government announced that it would be granting permanent residency to any Syrian refugee seeking asylum that has already fled to Sweden.”
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Sources:
Commonwealth Bills as reproduced on TimeBase LawOne
