Tribunal lets fake Iranian refugees stay in Australia
SIX Iranian boat people were caught holidaying in their homeland after lying on their visa applications about fearing for their lives if they had to return there.But Administrative Appeals Tribunal bureaucrats have foiled Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s attempts to deport the Iranians, allowing them to stay here regardless. Documents seen by the Herald Sun reveal in each case, the Iranians, who paid people smugglers to get to Australia, were given protection visas after claiming their lives would be in danger if they returned to Iran.
The visas were cancelled by Mr Dutton, or his delegate, after the Immigration Department discovered they voluntarily returned to Iran and later came back to Australia.
Documents reveal:
ONE made three return trips to Iran after getting his Australian visa, including one to get married under Islamic law, an event conducted by the Iranian authorities he was supposedly terrified of;
ANOTHER claimed to be on an Iranian wanted list, but the Immigration Department later discovered the person was in no danger by returning to Iran and was an economic migrant rather than a genuine refugee;
A COUPLE who arrived by boat claimed to have no identification documents and they would be killed if they returned to Iran, but later voluntarily travelled to Iran and back to Australia on valid Iranian passports; and
TWO Iranian family members claimed to be stateless with no identity documents — a lie discovered when another family member applied to join them in Australia and provided documents to show all were Iranian citizens who were in no danger of being persecuted in Iran.
The revelations will put further pressure on the AAT, already under fire for overturning thousands of visa decisions made by Mr Dutton or his delegate in the past year.
When asked by the Herald Sun on Monday about the Iranians having their visas reinstated by the AAT, a spokesman for Mr Dutton said he was considering his next step.
“The minister has the power to set aside AAT decisions,” the spokesman said.
“These matters will be reconsidered in due course. All matters are considered on a case-by-case basis.”
The Herald Sun is not able to name the six Iranians for legal reasons. All of them wrongly claimed in their visa applications that they faced danger in Iran if they were denied protection in Australia and deported.
Despite the AAT saying in the documents that it was satisfied the Iranian asylum seekers lied to Australian authorities about the dangers they faced if they were sent back to Iran, it still overturned the decisions by the minister to deport them and allowed them all to stay in Australia.
In one case, the AAT said it believed two family members who said they were “stateless” when they claimed that documents showing they were citizens of Iran were false. This was despite expert evidence to the AAT that the documents were genuine and had been provided by a relative of the supposedly stateless family members.
The Herald Sun last week revealed the AAT has overturned 4389 visa decisions made by Mr Dutton or his delegate in the past year.
That means that of the 11,323 ministerial visa decisions reviewed in the 12 months to April 30 this year,
the AAT rejected 39 per cent of them.
One of those the AAT overturned was Mr Dutton’s decision to kick Indian sex creep taxi driver Jagdeep Singh out of the country after he admitted indecently assaulting a female passenger in Melbourne. The AAT also foiled Mr Dutton’s attempt to deport rapist Carl Stafford to New Zealand, despite Stafford having racked up 365 convictions in Australia.