Authorities in Australia have announced that they will grant permanent visas to thousands of refugees across Australia who have lived in this country on temporary visas, thus permitting them to permanently stay in this country, following the new rules that will become effective on Monday.
Australian officials have reiterated their support for controversial border protection measures, a report provided by the Voice of America shows, VisaGuide.World reports.
The same source notes that about 19,000 people who reached Australia before the beginning of Operation Sovereign Borders in 2013, will also be covered by the new changes.
At the same time, the report provided by the same source revealed that the center-government promised last year to lift Temporary Protection and Safe Heaven Enterprise Visas, which were described as cruel by human rights groups.
In this regard the Immigration Minister of Australia, Andrew Giles said that there is no sense to keep refugees in limbo.
According to the director of advocacy at the Asylum Seeker Resource Center, Jana Favero, which is a rights center, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp, the new visas will changes lives.
Favero considered the announcement as a change that is truly monumental in the lives of those who are on temporary protection visas after they can now get on with and also rebuild their lives, stressing that they can see their family have the permanency and safety that they deserve.
However, a report provided by ABC News revealed that the Home Affairs Minister, Karen Andrews, didn’t welcome the new changes. Besides, she accused the government of Australia of dismantling the country’s border policy.
“Labor cannot with any credibility stand up and say Operation Sovereign Borders remains in place because it very clearly doesn’t,” she said.
It has been reported that nearly 5,000 applications for temporary visas are currently being assessed or are under judicial review.
The government has stressed that the process will remain unchanged, stressing that if a person who plans to make an application meets the needed requirements for a temporary visa, they will benefit from a permanent visa.
The Department of Home Affairs will invite people who hold a temporary visa to apply for a new permanent visa first before applications open broadly in an electronic way in March.
It has also been revealed that about 2,500 people who have previously had their temporary visas canceled or refused will not be eligible to apply for a temporary visa while it has been emphasized that the government emphasized that be required to leave Australia voluntarily.
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