Emigration to Australia to become even tougher

The Australian government has introduced more stringent immigration regulations and will now give temporary visas to refugees, meaning they will not be granted permanent residency.

The Migration Act amendments were passed on Friday morning following a heated debate the night before. The new ‘temporary protection visas (TPVs) protect refugees for a maximum of three years but do not offer the chance to settle in Australia permanently – and they could be returned to their country of origin after that period.

The conservative government voted to reintroduce the visas, which were also used by conservative governments in the past, in order to manage the current backlog of an estimated 30,000 asylum-seekers who arrived in the country by boat. But Prime Minister Tony Abbott has vowed to increase the total intake of refugees by 7,500 as well as free hundreds of children that are presently being held in detention centres.

Australia has faced strong criticism for its offshore detention centres on Christmas Island, where many of the children are being held, as well as in Papua New Guinea and the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru. It has also been strongly condemned for turning away asylum-seekers that have arrived by boat.

Abbott explained that they always maintained their actions were necessary as the boats needed to be stopped, adding that turning boats away, offshore processing and temporary protection visas were all to help improve the situation.