Australia on Thursday denied its policies to combat people-smuggling had failed as a decision to release asylum-seekers into the community with little help or support was blasted as “a new low”.
Canberra is struggling with a record influx of asylum-seekers that is overwhelming its offshore camps.
More than 7,500 have arrived since the Labor government launched a harsh new offshore processing policy for boatpeople in August, swamping capacity in Pacific camps on Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
To resolve the impasse Immigration Minister Chris Bowen announced on Wednesday that some asylum-seekers would be released into the community on severely restricted visas that would still apply even if they gained refugee status.
The temporary visas deny them family reunion, ban them from working, and offer scant financial support, prompting warnings of a new “underclass” in Australia living below the poverty line with few rights.
It is part of a “no advantage” approach by the government to ensure that those who pay people-smugglers get no greater benefits than those who wait years for resettlement in United Nations camps.