Support to be cut from just 71 asylum seekers after Dutton’s ‘lodge it or leave’ threat

PETER Dutton’s ‘lodge it or leave’ warning to asylum seekers appears to have worked, with just 71 refugees failing to submit their claims.

Peter Dutton’s ‘lodge it or leave it’ threat to asylum seekers appears to have worked. Picture: AAP

SUPPORT will be cut to just 71 out of 7500 asylum seekers who arrived in Australia illegally by boat, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has revealed.

Earlier this year, Mr Dutton gave thousands of asylum seekers who arrived by boat a non-negotiable October 1 deadline to “lodge it (claims for protection) or leave”.

Mr Dutton told radio station 2GB the Immigration Department had been given extra resources to process the applications.

MORE: Asylum seeker scammers exploiting medical welfare to live rent-free

MORE: Activist asylum seekers on Manus Island holiday in paradise

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton speaks to the Combined Refugee Action Group. Picture: Mike Dugdale

“You’ll remember in May we put in place a deadline because out of 50,000 people who came on the 800 boats, there were still 7500 people who refused to provide documentation, refused to provide information about their protection claim,” Mr Dutton told Macquarie Radio.

“They’re on welfare benefits, which is costing taxpayers a quarter of a billion dollars a year, and they were refusing to provide any information, and I said enough’s enough, you provide the information by the 1st of October or benefits are cut off.

“We’ve got that number down remarkably to 71. Labor said it couldn’t be done. All the civil libertarians went crazy we were forcing people to provide information and this means that we can get their applications processed. If they’re found not to be refugees then we can start deportation of people as quickly as possible.”

Asylum seekers stare from behind a fence at the Oscar compound in the Manus Island detention centre. Picture: AAP

RELATED: Turnbull government to cut income support for asylum seekers

Mr Dutton said the 71 who had not lodged their applications would automatically be cut off from receiving government benefits.

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

“We’ll go through and process those claims and once we’ve done that we meet our international obligations where people have been found not to be a refugee after their lodgement has been assessed we can start deporting people from Australia.”