71 facing expulsion in refugee process

ONLY 71 “fake refugees” face immediate deportation after a crackdown resulted in thousands of asylum seekers lodging pleas for protection.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton earlier this year set an October 1 deadline for about 7500 asylum seekers to make a claim for protection or be deported.

The asylum seekers were part of a “legacy caseload” who arrived by boat between late 2012 and early 2014.

Mr Dutton yesterday revealed the deadline had prompted all but 71 of the asylum seekers to lodge their claims which would now be processed and evaluated.

“All the civil libertarians went crazy because we were forcing people to provide information and this means that we can get their applications processed,” Mr Dutton told 2GB radio.

“If they’re found not to be refugees then we can start deportation of people as quickly as possible.

“So there are 71 people who are refusing to lodge an application for protection and you’ll remember in May we put in place a deadline because out of the 50,000 people who came on the 800 boats, there was still 7500 people who refused to provide documentation, refused to provide information about their protection claim – they’re on welfare benefits, which is costing taxpayers a quarter of a billion dollars a year – and they’re refusing to provide any information.”

Mr Dutton said the 71 who had refused to provide details would now be cut off from receiving government benefits.

“So they’re out in the community. We’ve been very clear about that and they don’t receive welfare payments etc,” Mr Dutton said.

“For the people that have lodged their papers, I’ve instructed the department to put extra resources into processing those claims.”