Just as immigration minister Peter Dutton announced that there are no more children being held in immigration detention centres, latest DIBP figures indicate that over 28,000 refugees are yet to have their cases even processed while the promise to resettle Syrian and Iraqi refugees wavers.
Mr Dutton recently announced that the last group of children held in mainland immigration detention has been released into the community boasting it had been a significant accomplishment of the Government.
The announcement was followed by the release of DIBP statistics which revealed that protection visa processing has virtually come to a standstill.
According to an ABC report, of the 30,000 asylum seeker legacy cases that arrived in Australia under Labor, more than 28,000 remain in the country and are yet to have their cases processed, while about 1,700 have been forced to leave or have left voluntarily. Media reports estimate that some applicants have been waiting for some 10 years now.
Responding to the DIBP figures, opposition's Immigration spokesperson, Richard Marles told the ABC that, "Peter Dutton should explain why people are spending longer in detention now than under Scott Morrison or Labor."
DIBP released the figures amidst reports that only 187 refugees had been resettled in Australia as part of the Coalition's pledge to take in 12,000 people left displaced by violence in Syria and Iraq. The process — initiated by former prime minister Tony Abbott last year — has come under fire in comparison to countries such as Canada, which has resettled more than 26,000 refugees in the same period.
Social Services Minister Christian Porter has previously cited security processes as the reasoning for the lengthy process, but Labor Senator Lisa Singh — a vocal refugee advocate — said that "really doesn't make sense".
"Canada has done upwards of 26,000," she said. "What makes it so different for Canada compared to Australia when it comes to doing security checks?