Suspect in Commonwealth Bank branch horror an asylum seeker
THE man who allegedly set himself on fire in a suburban Melbourne bank is believed to be a refugee from Myanmar, also known as Burma, living in Australia on a bridging visa.
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THE man who allegedly set himself on fire in a suburban Melbourne bank is believed to be a refugee from Myanmar, also known as Burma, living in Australia on a bridging visa.
Sources told the Herald Sun that the 21-year-old arrived on one of the 300 boats carrying more than 20,000 Illegal Maritime Arrivals (IMAs) in 2013 under the Gillard-Rudd government. The alleged attacker was transferred to Christmas Island before settling in Melbourne on a bridging visa, which allowed him to temporarily live in the community while his claim was processed.
About 22,000 asylum seekers, many with unclear histories, are living in the community as agencies such as ASIO continue to conduct checks.
Under the former Labor government, asylum seekers who arrived in Australia by boat were granted bridging visas allowing them to live in the community without stringent security checks.
Most people on bridging visas have been granted work rights but are not eligible for full welfare payments, or given access to public housing.
IMAs awaiting processing are initially provided with six weeks of government support and then 89 per cent of the lowest Centrelink payment.
In 2014, the Coalition reintroduced Howard-era Temporary Protection Visas (TPV) in a bid to clear a backlog of up to 30,000 asylum-seekers it inherited from the former Labor government.
The Herald Sun understands the man involved in yesterday’s attack had been invited to apply for a TPV — giving him a guaranteed right to work, and access to social security payments and public housing — but he was yet to do so.
A source said the man had been living in the community since 2013 and had no reported mental health issues.
It is believed he is a member of the Rohingya minority, a Muslim Indo-Aryan people who live mainly in the Rakhine state of Myanmar.
Tensions between the Rohingya people and the Buddhist majority have escalated again in recent days, with hundreds crossing the border into Bangladesh amid reports of a military crackdown.
