http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/05/08/asylum-seekers-fall-through-the-cracks/ now with extra source Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:52:08 +1100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/05/08/asylum-seekers-fall-through-the-cracks/#comment-21934 JennyN Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000 #comment-21934 If the Minister wants to reduce the number of refugee cases on his desk, he should allow Departmental decision-makers to assess whether an applicant has a humanitarian case as well as a refugee claim, which they can't do at the moment . Refugee criteria are very tight and an applicant can have compelling humanitarian reasons for not wanting to return home but not actually fit refugee criteria. These cases are among those which end up on the Minister's desk. If the Minister wants to reduce the number of refugee cases on his desk, he should allow Departmental decision-makers to assess whether an applicant has a humanitarian case as well as a refugee claim, which they can’t do at the moment . Refugee criteria are very tight and an applicant can have compelling humanitarian reasons for not wanting to return home but not actually fit refugee criteria. These cases are among those which end up on the Minister’s desk.

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