The Australian government announced that the family reunion concessions for asylum seekers arriving by boat, will be removed.
The minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris said in a statement:
“These changes will remove the incentive for people to travel to Australia by boat with the intention of bringing out their families on humanitarian visas,”
“We don’t want people risking their lives at sea on dangerous boat journeys and together with the implementation of all the other panel recommendations this measure provides clear evidence of the Government’s determination to break the people smugglers’ business model.”
“Until now, the offshore spouse, dependent children and, in some cases, parents of refugees in Australia could be granted an SHP visa solely on the basis of that relationship, regardless of whether they were in humanitarian need themselves,”
“This created a situation where, for example, the head of a family would arrive in Australia alone, apply for asylum and then seek to bring out several members of his family as humanitarian migrants.
“Decisions on the applications made by family of adult boat arrivals who arrived prior to 13."
