Australia offering Lebanese asylum seekers $10k to return home

Jun 21, 2014

Asylum seekers are being held at the Nauru and Manus Island detention centres.

MELBOURNE – The Australian government is offering asylum seekers up to A$10,000 (US$9,386.50) to leave detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru and return to their countries of origin, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Asylum seekers who take the money and voluntarily leave Australia’s offshore processing centres are taken to the Hideaway Hotel, Port Moresby where their stay is paid for by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) before flying to their home countries.

Lebanese asylum seekers are offered A$10,000 to voluntarily return to their country. Iranians are offered A$7,000, Afghans A$4,000 and Nepalese, Burmese and Sudanese asylum seekers A$3,300.

It is understood the payments, which are administered by the IOM but funded by the Australian Immigration Department, are made once the asylum seekers have returned.

The price increase is a departure from the previous Labor government’s return policy, which offered asylum seekers an average A$1,500 to A$2,000 in May last year. (US$1 = AUD 1.07)

Bernama

2 responses to “Australia offering Lebanese asylum seekers $10k to return home”

AkhouManUki

June 22, 2014

Wow – they upped the ante for Lebanese. We should be proud that a country feels as though Lebanese are worth more gone than other nationalities – what an achievement! Perhaps Lebanese in Australia should step up their game and be even worse ambassadors to drive up the incentive from $10k.

Makes me feel special!

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1. 5thDrawer
  
  June 23, 2014
  
  Yah … wonder if some friends in Tripoli can get the money just by going to the Australian embassy and agreeing not to attempt the trip?? That’s a year’s worth of food in Lebanon for 3 people – no matter what condition it’s sold in.
  Mind you, it may not cover the cost of Kotex … going back to the cloth washables means they can eat and buy water, however. (nope … no ‘smiley’ for that one – real life)
  
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Australia offering Lebanese asylum seekers $10k to return home

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2 responses to “Australia offering Lebanese asylum seekers $10k to return home”

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