Refugee scams bog the system

A Thai scam of "clearly abusive" refugee applications has created a backlog at the Refugee Status Appeal Authority.

In its annual report, the authority says it ended the June 30 financial year with a large number of outstanding appeals, "the majority of which were part of a well-orchestrated scam perpetuated against the refugee determination process".

Appeals increased in the year, with 651 hearings completed and 637 decisions published.

The authority received 1277 appeals in the year to June, twice the number it had the previous year.

That number was boosted by 304 appeals from Thai nationals. Of the 284 considered, "all were found to be manifestly unfounded, or clearly abusive".

"Included in this number were 239 almost identical appeals lodged through a small number of agents on behalf of Thai nationals.

"All appeals were without merit, and all were clearly part of a scam perpetuated against the refugee determination process."

Though the appeals did not need interviews to expose them, they still affected workloads.

By the end of the year the authority had received 46 second or third appeals from the group.

"It is to be hoped the NZIS [New Zealand Immigration Service] will act promptly to remove from New Zealand the persons participating in this or similar scams," the report said.

The authority heard and determined appeals lodged by people from 67 countries.

Thais headed the list, with 23.9 per cent of the total, followed by Indians (14.6 per cent), Czechs (9 per cent), Iranians (6.6 per cent), Sri Lankans (6 per cent), and Chinese (4.9 per cent).

There was a significant increase in the number of appellants detained either in a remand prison, or at Auckland's Mangere Detention centre.

An increase in appeals, a fall in authority members over two years and the "inability" to recruit more full-time members led to 770 undetermined appeals being carried forward.

Without new members, it was "highly unlikely" that the authority could clear the backlog, let alone deal with all new applications this year, chairwoman Ema Aitken wrote.

If better fees were not paid, it was unlikely suitably qualified applicants could be recruited or existing membership retained.

The flow of Thais seeking refugee status was stemmed after their visa-free status was removed last year. This cut the numbers of Thais likely to apply for refugee status upon arrival at New Zealand airports.

- NZPA

Further reading
Feature: Immigration