59% rise in asylum seeker applications in a year

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Created on Wednesday, 12 December 2012 14:53

Written by Editorial staff

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has recently released figures showing Australia has more asylum seeker applications than many other nations.

Shadow immigration minister Scott Morrison says out of 44 industrialised countries, the data highlights that there have been 59 per cent more applications in Australia in the first six months of this year than in the same period of 2011.

He commented: "And there is more to come, with an average of over 2,000 people arriving by illegal boat every month since July.

"In the second half of 2012 overall arrivals is more than double the first half of the year, with average monthly arrivals up by 130 per cent. Compared with Australia's huge increase, Canada experienced a fall in applications in the first half of this year of eight per cent while in the United Kingdom applications remained steady."

He added that industrialised nations have experienced a steady trend of applications.

Mr Morrison said Australian stands out when compared to similar countries like Canada and the United Kingdom who have comparable case loads.

The shadow spokesperson said that the government's claims that there are push factors causing these trends have been debunked by the figures, comma and that the pull factor is Australia's lax policies which are costing citizens billions.

It comes as the latest load of boat arrivals means that 392 vessels have made their way to our shores without legal immigration visas since the prime minister came into office in 2010.

This equates to 24,500 people, with this number potentially reaching 25,000 before the end of 2012 as the data shows that 2,000 illegal immigrants are arriving in Australia every month.

Shadow minister for justice, customs, and border protection Michael Keenan said that the Australian navy is being inappropriately used.

Mr Keenan mentioned: "The situation at our borders has deteriorated so much so that millions of dollars are spent every month on flying asylum seekers around the country on chartered flights, the Royal Australian Navy warships are being used as water taxis for people smugglers.

"Patrol vessels are literally cracking under the pressure and our detention network is so overflowing that hundreds of asylum seekers have been released into the community."

The Labor government dismantled the policies of the former Howard government in 2008 after it came into power which subsequently caused more and more boats to arrive in Australia in the following years.