Australian visas for 94 asylum seekers
February 04 2010 by Liam Clifford
Some 94 asylum seekers based at Christmas Island off the coast of Australia have been granted Australian visas to allow them to live in Australia permanently.
The
immigrants are largely from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Iraq, according to the
Australian immigration department. A spokesperson for the department said the
new Australian visa holders left the island yesterday and are being given new
lives in cities around the country.
The decision has been made to help
alleviate congestion on the island. Professor of Human Rights Education at
Curtin university, Linda Briskman, added her support to the decision to allow
the asylum seekers to settle in Australia.
She stated, "hopefully the
processing has been able to be fairly speedy despite the numbers because one of
my main concerns is that the more crowded the immigration detention centre
becomes the less likely it is that people have their visas and their visa
applications dealt with in a timely manner".
Christmas Island, off the
coast of Australia, is currently being used to house asylum seekers, most of
whom have moved to Australia in search of a better life and ultimately an
Australian work visa.
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