The Sydney Morning Herald 'Queuejumpers' may be genuine Date: 28/12/99 By MIKE SECCOMBE in Canberra About 100 Middle-Eastern boat people will be released from detention centres early in the new year because many, if not all, are legitimate refugees. The people, some of the 2,200 Iraqis and Afghanis who have come to Australia since October 26, will be resettled in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Under tough new rules now in force, they will be allowed only an initial three-year protective visa, will not be able leave the country or bring in relatives and will receive only limited welfare benefits. While the Government has talked tough about the refugees being "queuejumpers", the Immigration Department itself acknowledges that up to 99 per cent of them are genuine refugees. The Minister for Immigration, Mr Ruddock, yesterday admitted that about 100 asylum seekers would be released into the community as refugees, following reports they were to be released because of overcrowding in detention centres. He denied that lack of accommodation had forced their release and said there remained surplus capacity at detention centres. Mr Ruddock said he believed the stories had been inspired by leaks from Centrelink staff, who were briefed recently on payment of benefits to refugees under new, tighter arrangements. The refugees would be spread among the States which usually receive the fewest migrants, Mr Ruddock said - Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide at first, and possibly later to Hobart. When it was put to a spokesman for Mr Ruddock that the release of the 100 indicated the inevitability of having to accord refugee status for almost all the 2,200, he said the Government still hoped to repatriate some of them. Meanwhile, police and customs officials in the northern West Australian town of Derby yesterday recaptured the last of five refugees who escaped from a makeshift canvas detention centre. The two were captured early yesterday morning on the outskirts of the remote Kimberley town. Three of the five were picked up within two hours of being reported missing. This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited. ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
