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Family visa system in need of dramatic improvement, Senate inquiry finds
A Senate inquiry has shown that the current legal system is failing to keep migrant families together, and bureaucracy is too often a roadblock.
Shandel McAuliffe
The new report, Together in Safety: A report on the Australian Government’s separation of families seeking safety, comes on the heels of the inquiry by the Senate committee and includes contributions from migrants directly affected by the family visa system, lawyers, and over 500 organisations.
The inquiry has recommended that the Department of Home Affairs examines what it can do to make the system better and fairer for migrants. Senators from the Australian Greens Party added to the recommendations in a bid to further remove barriers keeping migrant families apart.
“Our migration system should aim to reunite people with their loved ones, rather than deliberately keeping them apart. But this committee’s findings reaffirms what we’ve always known, that through punitive and discriminatory policies, exorbitant costs and unreasonable delays, the Australian government is intentionally keeping thousands of families apart,” stated Human Rights Law Centre senior lawyer Josephine Langbien.
Ms Langbien continued: “Everyone deserves to be together with their loved ones. However, in last night’s budget announcement, the Morrison government cut the number of partner visas. It reduced the cost of temporary tourist visas but not family visas. It is clear that family reunion is not a priority for this government and this report highlights the urgent need for change.”
The report asserts that separating families is “deliberate”, “harmful”, “unlawful”, and “unparalleled”.
The recommendations concluding the report are grounded by firsthand statements from migrants Ali and Dima.
Ali states: “All I want is to hold my kids and my wife again, and to be safe together as a family.”
And Dima, who is now reunited with her family in Canada, comments: “When we were separated, both of us had really difficult times. Now we have to rebuild our life again. We are still doing that.”
