http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=No_chance_of_work_for_boat_people_Australia_20121127_02
No chance of work for 'boat people' - Australia
There is no prospect for people arriving in boats to work in
Australia while their claims are assessed, and that they will be forced to
survive on minimal subsistence from the government, the Australian government
said.
The deputy secretary of the Department of Immigration and
Citizenship, Peter Vardos, said in Colombo that despite the Nauru and Manus
Island detention centres being full, asylum seekers given bridging visas to live
in Australia would have no capacity to earn money.
''That will not happen - they will not have work rights and they
will have minimal subsistence from the federal government to help them,'' he
said.
Asylum seekers will be eligible for 89 per cent of the NewStart
allowance, about $438 a fortnight.
''One selling point of the people smugglers is that people can
come to Australia while their claims are being processed ... that they can work
in the Australian community, earn an income and repatriate remittances to their
country. That will not happen,'' Vardos said.
Australia wanted skilled migrants. ''We do not need semi- or
unskilled people, we do not need people who unilaterally show up on our shores
and say 'Give me a job'. I can appreciate why people seek a better life for
themselves, but it's a risky journey and people die.''
Earlier this month, the department's regional director for South
Asia, Jose Alvarez, said in Colombo many on the boats to Australia wanted jobs,
and had been sold lies and false promises by the smugglers.
''The ones we returned ... were all about the fact that once
they arrive they'll be able to go into the community and work and then send the
money back. It was all about having job opportunities.''
A video message from the Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen, has
been broadcast to the Sri Lankan media in English, Sinhala and Tamil.
''People are dying at sea on unseaworthy boats, based on false
promises and lies about what awaits them in Australia. This is unacceptable,''
he said.
Courtesy : President Media
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