When any of us deal with law we expect that we will have a fair chance to present our case and be treated with dignity. For people seeking asylum who arrived by sea, this is not the case.

Right now there are over 24,500 people seeking asylum, including 4,395 children who arrived by boat between August 2012 and December 2013. They are subject to a drastically changed refugee determination process that seems set up for these thousands of people to fail. They have been living in limbo in our community, many for up to four years and there is no guarantee of safety at the end of this new process.

The refugee determination process is complex and difficult, and an error can have grave consequences. These risks are heightened by the very tight time frames being applied by Fast Track policy and means there is a high risk that refugees and other people in need of protection will be returned to face persecution or other significant harm.

And these risks are now even greater because people seeking asylum seekers no longer entitled to funded legal assistance.

Fast Track

For 24,500 people, they face a new system:

• that has altered the legal definition of who is a refugee, further diminishing the United Nation’s definition of a refugee
• which removes the right to meaningful review of their case
• that requires people to fill in an application form over 60 pages long and only available in English
• even if successful, they will only be able to apply for temporary protection at the end of which they will need to reapply.

Temporary Protection

Under current law they will only be eligible to apply for either a TPV (Temporary Protection Visa) or a SHEV (Safe Haven Enterprise Visa):

• TPV’s are valid for up to three years
• SHEVs are valid for up to five years if you work or study full time or a combination of the two in a regional area for at least 3.5 years
• in both cases people cannot sponsor family to come to Australia
• they are unable to travel back to see family in their home country
• they cannot apply for permanent protection on a TPV

Even if successful in being granted asylum, people can be waiting in limbo for years. They will not know when they are next going to see their family, whether they are going to stay here in Australia, and what their future will bring.