Limbo for 10,000 asylum-seekers: Peter Dutton

Taxpayers could have to pay for up to 10,000 asylum seekers who arrived under the Rudd and Gillard governments.

Taxpayers could have to pay for up to 10,000 asylum seekers who arrived under the Rudd and Gillard governments and could be stuck in Australia indefinitely.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton revealed last night about a third of the 30,000 asylum seekers still being processed from the Labor years would likely be deemed not eligible for protection, and were expected to refuse to return home.

He warned taxpayers would carry the burden for decades.

“I am advised that on the basis of processing to date that as many as one-third or more could be found not to be owed protection,” Mr Dutton said in a speech to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute reported by The Daily Telegraph. “The size and varied nature of the caseload means these trends may deviate over time, though if they hold they would equate to around 10,000 to 12,000 economic migrants, not refugees, who paid people-smugglers to bring them to Australia.”

That meant those ­people could be stuck for decades, with most refusing to return to their homelands. “Following a drawn-out legislative battle, we successfully reintroduced temporary protection visas in December 2014,” Mr Dutton said. “TPVs and safe haven enterprise visas have deprived people-smugglers of a product to sell and enabled us to begin working through Labor’s legacy caseload. Many of these people will likely refuse to return to their home country. Unless we act, they will remain a burden on the Australian taxpayer. We remain engaged with several countries to alleviate these issues, but negotiations will be protracted.”