Asylum seeker health and bridging visas: History repeating

摘要

After a decade of increasingly restrictive policy, significant changes were made to Australian immigration policies when the Australian Labor Party came into power in 2007. The Government scrapped temporary protection visas and closed offshore processing facilities on both Manus Island and Nauru, with these changes being generally welcomed by human rights groups. Since this time, arrivals of asylum seekers have steadily increased, mainly due to a sharp increase in boat arrivals. More then 30,000 people have arrived from 2007 to 2012, with 17,202 arriving in 2012. In the first three months of 2013, a total of 7,464 individuals arrived by boat. From 2011 to 2012, arrivals jumped by 36%. By global standards, however, these numbers remain low with Australia receiving only 3% of total asylum applications among industrialised nations.