Albanese Government fails to provide information on permanent protection for refugees as temporary visas enter another year

Media Release

23 September 2022

The Albanese Government must keep their commitment and provide clear information on the transition of people held on temporary visas to permanent protection, with this weekend marking eight years since the cruel Safe Haven Enterprise Visa was announced.

The Albanese Government won the 2022 election promising to end Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) and Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEVs) by providing permanent resettlement to those who sought asylum by sea before January 2014 and children born to these families, known as the Legacy Caseload.

However, despite their commitment, the new Government has still not announced any timeframe around when people in the so-called Legacy Caseload will be provided permanent protection, denying the ability of refugees to rebuild their homes in Australia and needlessly prolonging cruel policies they agreed to abolish.

On 25 September 2014, the Abbott Government’s then Minister of Immigration, Scott Morrison, announced that a deal had been struck with the Palmer United Party to force the passage of Safe Haven Enterprise Visas. This paved the way for 31,000 refugees to be denied permanent settlement, reunification with their families, the opportunity to study, the ability to find stable work and to rebuild their lives.

Currently, nearly 19,500 refugees are living on temporary visas, such as TPVs and SHEVs. After nearly a decade, there are still around 2,000 people who remain at the review stage of their application and 9,500 people who have been failed by the ‘Fast Track’ process. All of these people need clarity about their path to permanent protection.

Murtaza, a refugee currently held on a SHEV: “I was forced to flee Pakistan in late 2012, running away from the terror and persecution we faced for almost two decades by the ‘state-supported terror groups,’ leaving behind a successfully running family business, my beloved parents, lovely siblings, some good friends and all sweet memories behind in search of a safer and better place than my homeland. The safer and better country I sought asylum was Australia in early 2013, which is surely better than my homeland, eventually, I got to know that its infrastructure is better, the members of the public are nicer, and more educated, except the government’s cruel policies specifically towards people seeking asylum.”

“In Australia, for nearly a decade I have always been deprived of my rights, including the first two harsh years with no work rights which forced me into great isolation, which doubled the grief and pain of homesickness and culture shock. Later I was given work rights but still no right to education, no family reunion, no overseas travel rights and no right for permanent basis resettlement in Australia and live an uncertain, nerve-wracking life in limbo under the fear of being deported back.”

“Being deprived of human rights and living a disgraceful life on a temporary is inhumane, incorrect and injustice. It’s a painful life to live as a lower-class human amongst other humans for this long, who can afford to live happily and normally, having families, growing lives and businesses and having almost everything, but not me.”

Ogy Simic, acting Director of Advocacy and Campaigns at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), said: “Every day we’re being contacted by hundreds of people impacted by temporary visas, asking why the Government has not yet kept their promise. It has been well over 100 days in office but the Government still hasn’t provided a timeframe and no indication of when people can start to rebuild their lives after a decade of pain.”

“We all understand the need to transition people from TPVs and SHEVs correctly, but every day of delay and every day of uncertainty is having a huge impact on people’s lives. There has been clear and consistent information provided to the new Government about the mechanisms available to them to do this quickly and effectively.”

–ENDS–

Media contact: Sam Brennan 0428 973 324 or sam.b4@asrc.org.au

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