PLANNING THE MIGRATION PROGRAM

Transcription

1 DEPARTMENT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION PLANNING THE MIGRATION PROGRAM The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) is the national umbrella body for refugees, asylum seekers and the organisations and individuals who work with them, representing over 200 organisations and around 1,000 individual members. RCOA promotes the adoption of humane, lawful and constructive policies by governments and communities in Australia and internationally towards refugees, asylum seekers and humanitarian entrants. RCOA consults regularly with its members, community leaders and people from refugee backgrounds and this submission is informed by their views. RCOA welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection on planning for the Migration Program. Family separation continues to be identified in RCOA s community consultations as one of the greatest challenges facing refugee and humanitarian entrants in Australia. In recent years, as increasing numbers of people from refugee backgrounds have sought to reunite with relatives under the family stream of the Migration Program, we have received consistent feedback highlighting the multiple barriers refugee and humanitarian entrants face to applying for family visas. In response, RCOA has developed a proposal for a new approach to humanitarian family reunion, including measures to enhance the accessibility of family stream visas to people from refugee backgrounds. 1. Impacts of family separation 1.1. Participants in RCOA s community consultations have consistently highlighted the devastating psychological, economic and social impacts of family separation. A common refrain from people from refugee backgrounds who have participated in RCOA s consultations is that the physical security offered by Australia is offset by the ongoing mental anguish of family separation. In the words of one consultation participant: While your family is back in a not safe place and almost you are losing them, what is the point of you being safe? You will be physically safe [but] you will not be mentally safe. The mental health consequences of family separation can be severe, with consultation participants citing instances of self-harm and suicidal ideation triggered by family separation Family separation also has a significant negative impact on the settlement outcomes more broadly, with consultation participants expressing the view that successful settlement is not possible without family reunion. The capacity of refugee and humanitarian entrants to recover from prearrival trauma, move on with their lives and fully engage with the settlement process (such as through learning English and securing sustainable employment) was seen to be significantly hampered by family separation. As noted by one former refugee: We love this country but we can t get on with our lives in this situation Some participants have noted that the pressure to financially support family members living overseas could compel some people to forego study in favour of paid work, in turn limiting their future employment prospects. The need to support family members overseas has also been highlighted as one of the significant financial costs of family separation, in that money which would otherwise be injected into the Australian economy is instead sent overseas. In terms of longer-term financial impacts, participants highlighted the added mental health costs associated with family separation, with one service provider asserting that you either pay mental health costs or you reunite a family. Others pointed to the lost opportunity whereby people who would otherwise be able to settle successfully and contribute to Australia are held back due to the impacts of family separation. In the words of another service provider, it s not just the cost, it s the value that we re missing.

2 1.4. RCOA believes that the negative impacts of family separation necessitate an urgent reconsideration of Australia s policies on humanitarian family reunion, to protect family unity and help ensure positive settlement outcomes for people from refugee backgrounds. 2. Access by humanitarian entrants to the family migration program 2.1. In the past, the main avenues through which people from refugee backgrounds typically sought to reunite with family members were the split family provisions of the Refugee or Humanitarian Program or the Special Humanitarian Program (SHP). In recent years, however, demand for SHP visa has consistently outstripped available places to a large degree. The numerical link between the SHP and the onshore protection component of the Refugee and Humanitarian Program has exacerbated this gulf between demand and availability, as any rise in permanent Protection Visa grants would lead to fewer SHP visa grants. As a result, a large backlog of SHP applications has developed and many people from refugee backgrounds face a wait of several years to be reunited even with their immediate family members The number of SHP visas available has recently increased due to a decision of the current Government to cap permanent Protection Visas and no longer deduct these visa grants from the SHP quota. However, while the increased availability of SHP visas has generally been welcomed by participants in RCOA s consultations, it is evident that this measure alone has not addressed the challenges faced by refugee and humanitarian entrants in reuniting with family members. Demand for SHP visas continues to outstrip supply; prioritisation of applications based on the closeness of the relationship between the proposer and applicant means that applications lodged for extended family members generally have little chance of success; and the regional priorities within the Refugee and Humanitarian Program mean that not all communities have benefited from the increase in the SHP quota, with people from African countries appearing to be at a particular disadvantage The inaccessibility of the SHP has resulted in increasing numbers of people from refugee backgrounds exploring alternative family reunion options under the family stream of the Migration Program, rather than the Refugee and Humanitarian Program. However, many have reported to RCOA that the eligibility and documentation requirements associated with family stream visas are too onerous or impractical for them to meet. These requirements include: Visa Application Charges and other costs (such as medical tests and airfares) which can be difficult for refugee and humanitarian entrants to afford, particularly if they have larger families or have arrived in Australia relatively recently. A range of documentation and other evidentiary requirements which are very difficult, if not impossible, for many refugee and humanitarian entrants to fulfil, such as obtaining police clearances from countries where a person has been subject to persecution or had no formal legal status; and providing evidence of relationships in circumstances where documents such as marriage certificates may never have existed or can only be obtained through undertaking perilous journeys back to countries of origin. Limited visa options for relatives who are not part of the sponsor s immediate family (such as adult children, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents); Prolonged waiting periods even if relatives are at immediate risk, particularly in the case of Other Family visas; and Limited access to settlement and other support services after arrival As such, while the family stream of the Migration Program has the potential to offer alternative family reunion pathway to people who cannot access SHP visas, it is not sufficiently accessible to present a viable option for many for people from refugee backgrounds. 2

3 3. A new approach to humanitarian family reunion 3.1. In response to the consistent concerns about family reunion opportunities raised over many years through our community consultations, RCOA has undertaken to develop a proposal for a new approach to humanitarian family reunion. In consultation with practitioners involved in providing support to people from refugee backgrounds with family reunion applications, RCOA has identified two key measures which could be adopted to improve the accessibility of family stream visas to people from refugee backgrounds: Create a dedicated humanitarian allocation of family visas: Currently, many people from refugee backgrounds seek to reunite with their immediate family members under split family provisions or the SHP rather than the family stream of the Migration Program due to their inability to meet the eligibility and documentation requirements described above. If concessions were available for some of these requirements, the family stream would become a more viable option for many of these people. RCOA therefore proposes that the Government earmark at least 5,000 visas under the family stream of the Migration Program for refugee and humanitarian entrants. These visas would offer a range of concessions, including: concession rates or waivers for Visa Application Charges; exemption from certain documentation requirements (such as police clearances) and the health requirement; prioritised processing if family members are at immediate risk; access to relevant settlement services; and exemption from Centrelink s Newly Arrived Resident s Waiting Period. Introduce needs-based concessions for people sponsoring relatives in humanitarian need: For refugee and humanitarian entrants who are able to meet some but not all of the eligibility and documentation requirements for family visas, the concessions listed above could be made available on a needs basis outside the dedicated humanitarian allocation. For example, some applicants may be able to afford a concessional or full Visa Application Charge and provide some documentation but still require exemption from the health requirement and the Newly Arrived Resident s Waiting Period. Others may be able to meet all of the eligibility and documentation requirements but require prioritised processing because their relatives are at immediate risk. The introduction of needs-based concessions would help to make family visas more accessible to people sponsoring relatives in humanitarian need, while also ensuring that the full concessions available under the humanitarian allocation are reserved for the people who face the most significant barriers to family reunion It is envisaged that the introduction of concessions under the family stream would help to relieve the current pressure on the SHP by shifting applications for immediate family members into the family stream. This would in turn creating more resettlement opportunities under the SHP for people other than immediate family members, particularly those who do not have viable visa options available under the Migration Program A range of other measures could also be implemented to ensure that this new approach operates effectively. These include: Adopting broader definitions of family and dependency to ensure that families do not face further separation as a result of the migration process. For example, RCOA has heard of many cases where families have been forced to leave one of their children behind because they are over the age of 18 and not engaged in full-time study, when in reality these young people are heavily dependent on their relatives and often become far more vulnerable once they no longer have the protection and support of their family unit. Expanding the availability of no-interest loan schemes (similar to the scheme currently administered by the International Organization for Migration in Australia) to assist people from refugee backgrounds in meeting the costs associated with family reunion. Expanding the availability of pro bono or low-cost migration advice to assist people from refugee backgrounds in navigating the often complex process of applying for family reunion. In particular, it has been suggested that funding for migration advice services be reinstated under the Settlement Grants program administered by the Department of Social Services. 3

4 3.4. RCOA is currently conducting national consultations to gather input from service providers and people from refugee backgrounds, to information our annual submission on the Refugee and Humanitarian Program. As part of this process, we have requested feedback on the proposal outlined above for improving access to family reunion opportunities. While the feedback received to date has been generally positive, RCOA would be happy to provide further information about the outcomes of this consultation process after our annual submission is published in early Restrictions on access to family reunion opportunities 4.1. A final issue of concern relating to family reunion which is regularly raised through RCOA s community consultations relates to the specific restrictions on family reunion opportunities for refugees who arrived in Australia by boat. These restrictions include: a bar on access to the SHP to people who arrived by boat; changes to processing priorities whereby applications for family stream visas lodged by people who arrived by boat are afforded the lowest priority (and thus have little chance of success); and a bar on access to any family reunion opportunities to people granted temporary humanitarian visas. As a result of these measures, some people from refugee backgrounds now face prolonged or even permanent separation from their family members, including in many cases their partners and children Participants in RCOA s consultations have expressed the view that these measures are unnecessarily punitive and likely to have serious negative consequences for people settling in Australia. Changes which apply retrospectively have been highlighted as being particularly unjust; for example, a number of participants have voiced concerns that people who applied for family visas before the changes to processing priorities were introduced have not been offered the opportunity to withdraw their applications and have the Visa Application Charge refunded A related concern which has recently emerged through RCOA s consultations is the increasing delay in the processing of citizenship applications. Because family reunion processing priority restrictions for boat arrivals do not apply once a person becomes an Australian citizen, obtaining citizenship has now become an essential step towards family reunion for those affected by the changes. Over the past few months, however, it has come to the attention of RCOA that some people from refugee backgrounds are experiencing significant delays in the process of applying for citizenship. Evidence collected by RCOA for a recent report 1 suggests that people who arrived by boat have been disproportionately affected. These delays present yet another barrier to family reunion, further prolonging already lengthy periods of separation It remains RCOA s position that restricting access to family reunion opportunities based on a person s mode of arrival in Australia is a deeply misguided policy. Available evidence suggests that restricting lawful family reunion pathways does not deter people seeking protection from undertaking dangerous journeys but may in fact drive demand for people smuggling. At the same time, there is considerable evidence to suggest that denying people from refugee backgrounds the opportunity to reunite with their relatives has a significant negative impact on their capacity to settle successfully, contribute to Australia and reach their potential. 5. Skilled migration 5.1. Many refugee and humanitarian entrants arriving in Australia have considerable skills, expertise and qualifications which, in different circumstances, may have allowed them to qualify for some form of skilled migration. In our community consultations this year and in previous years, some participants have suggested that the Australian Government explore options for granting skilled stream visas to refugee and humanitarian entrants who have relevant skills and qualifications, so as to maximise the number of places available under the Refugee and Humanitarian Program. Given the current scale of global protection needs, RCOA believes that this suggestion warrants further investigation. 1 Available at 4

5 5.2. In any circumstances where people in humanitarian need are granted non-humanitarian visas, it is critical that safeguards are in place to prevent forced return and ensure that these individuals receive adequate support to recover from their pre-arrival experiences and settle successfully in Australia. If handled in a protection-sensitive manner, however, the development of better links between the Refugee and Humanitarian Program and Migration Program could achieve significant protection dividends. 6. Recommendations Recommendation 1 RCOA recommends that the Australian Government enhance the accessibility of family stream visas to refugee and humanitarian entrants through: a) Creating a dedicated humanitarian allocation of at least 5,000 family stream visas for people from refugee backgrounds, with concessions and exemptions available in relation to Visa Application Charges, documentation requirements, the health requirement, waiting periods for visa processing, access to relevant settlement services and exemption from Centrelink s Newly Arrived Resident s Waiting Period. b) Introduce needs-based concessions for people sponsoring relatives in humanitarian need who are able to meet some but not all eligibility and documentation requirements for family stream visa. Recommendation 2 RCOA recommends that the Australian Government review the definition of family used to assess and prioritise family reunion applications to bring it into line with the definition used in UNHCR s Resettlement Handbook. Recommendation 3 RCOA recommends that the Australian Government expand the availability of no-interest loan schemes to assist refugee and humanitarian entrants in meeting the costs associated with family reunion. Recommendation 4 RCOA recommends that the Australian Government restore funding for professional migration advice services under the Settlement Grants program to support refugee and humanitarian entrants in lodging family reunion applications. Recommendation 5 RCOA recommends that: a) Current restrictions on access to family reunion opportunities for people who arrived by boat (including changes to processing priorities) be immediately removed. b) If the above recommendation is not implemented, people whose applications have been affected by the introduction of retrospective changes to processing priorities be given the opportunity to withdraw their applications and receive a full refund of application fees. Recommendation 6 RCOA recommends that the Australian Government take steps to process the citizenship applications of refugees and humanitarian entrants immediately, or otherwise clarify the specific reasons for the delay to each individual applicant. Recommendation 7 RCOA recommends that the Australian Government conduct a review of Australia s Migration Program to identify opportunities for enabling refugees to enter Australia through the skilled stream. 5