Child Trafficking Through Orphan Relative Visas in Australia

“Transcript

CHRIS UHLMANN, PRESENTER: Australia’s immigration program is always under close scrutiny, but rarely do we get a glimpse from the inside. But we do tonight. Two Immigration Department insiders have broken ranks to reveal to 7.30 serious claims of frequent and widespread fraud in visa applications. The allegations relate to family visa claims from Afghanistan and Pakistan. And while Immigration officials often detect the fraud, in many cases they’re over-ruled on appeal. They say it’s even led to child trafficking on Australian soil.

This exclusive report from Hayden Cooper.

HAYDEN COOPER, REPORTER: In the teeming, dusty streets of Islamabad, most Pakistanis scratch out a difficult existence. It’s a world away from life in Australia, so the dream of migration keeps Australian officials busy, processing a constant flow of visa applications.

FORMER VISA OFFICER, AUST. HIGH COMMISSION, ISLAMABAD: Every single day, five days a week from eight in the morning until five at night, it was – and often with overtime. It was hard work.

HAYDEN COOPER: This former Immigration Department employee wants to remain anonymous. She worked at the Australian High Commission in Islamabad. Her job was to process visa claims and now she’s speaking out to reveal the extent of visa fraud in the region.

How widespread is this as a problem for Immigration officials?

FORMER VISA OFFICER: Very widespread. It came into my office on a daily basis.

HAYDEN COOPER: One of the most common complaints is of Pakistanis who claim to be Afghans. The method is simple: buy identification documents at the local Afghan consulate in Pakistan, then apply for a visa in Australia.
FORMER VISA OFFICER: A large percentage of my case load would have been Pakistanis claiming to be Afghan refugees or Afghan asylum seekers.

HAYDEN COOPER: And it’s a ploy that sometimes works.

MARION LE, MIGRATION AGENT: I’m not sure I would say regularly, but it’s certainly something I have come across. I know that there are people living now in Australia as permanent residents and as citizens who are actually citizens of Pakistan, but who pass themselves off as Afghans.

HAYDEN COOPER: Migration agent Marion Le says some simply have no ID and must have it made. But she says it’s a concern nonetheless.

MARION LE: Some people think, “Well, as long as they’re here they can stay in the community on their false identities,” and that is – I think that’s a very big concern for Australia because we have no way of knowing who those people are.

HAYDEN COOPER: At Immigration Department headquarters it’s an issue that hasn’t gone unnoticed.

SANDI LOGAN, IMMIGRATION DEPT SPOKESMAN: We have a number of steps in place, not all of which, of course, we can go into, but we are detecting this attempt at defrauding the Immigration visa system.

HAYDEN COOPER: On that, there’s a level of agreement. Behind a desk in Islamabad, the anonymous staffer says many such visa applications were detected and rejected, but that’s when the Migration Review Tribunal, or MRT, would step in.

FORMER VISA OFFICER: The sponsor would go to the MRT in Australia and the case would be remitted, and in that case we would have to – we’d have no choice but to grant.

HAYDEN COOPER: Figures provided to 7.30 show that in some visa categories more than half of all rejections are later overturned or remitted by the tribunal. It infuriates the decision makers in the department.

FORMER VISA OFFICER: I used to dread seeing the male from the MRT in Australia because I knew there would be so many remittances back from them saying that these cases needed to be granted.

HAYDEN COOPER: Denis O’Brien is the man in charge of the Migration and Refugee Review tribunals. He has about 100 members constantly processing a backlog of thousands of visa appeals. The workload has exploded. This year it’s set to surpass 10,000 decisions.

DENIS O’BRIEN, PRINCIPAL MEMBER, MIGRATION REVIEW TRIBUNAL: We’re not coping particularly well at the moment. We’ve got a very large backlog on the Migration Review Tribunal and we’ve also had a small backlog on the Refugee Review Tribunal.

HAYDEN COOPER: So with the added strain, some believe the tribunals too easily approve visa applications, thereby avoiding any chance of further legal appeals. That’s the view of one former Immigration minister.

PHILIP RUDDOCK, IMMIGRATION MINISTER, 1996-2003: It’s an easy decision to take if you know that the Government’s not going to appeal your decision. And if you grant it to the applicant, what he or she wants, they won’t be appealing the decision either. And so for some decision makers, it’s the easiest course.

HAYDEN COOPER: The case load from Afghanistan and Pakistan is small, but it still amounts to hundreds of applications approved in the past five years despite an initial rejection. Denis O’Brien says it’s usually due to new information presented by the applicant.

DENIS O’BRIEN: Our decision making is sound, notwithstanding the fact that we’ve got a large volume to deal with. When they appeal to us, they will often want to put evidence before us that addresses the deficiency in their case when they lost originally before the department.

FORMER VISA OFFICER: There’s an endless source of frustration for a number of us and particularly as we’d worked so hard.

HAYDEN COOPER: 7.30 can reveal that the claims of visa fraud go much further. One more Immigration Department employee has blown the whistle anonymously on the extent of the problem.

(female voiceover): “Illegal facilitation of non-family members, children, child brides and unknown strangers via false documents, false statements and false applications.”

HAYDEN COOPER: This Department insider says some visa holders already here are sponsoring family members who in fact are no relation at all.

(female voiceover): “Afghans in Pakistan are now coached by ever more informed relatives and agents in Australia how to sidestep DIAC’s integrity processes. … When particular visa subclasses are being cracked down on – for instance the ‘Orphan Relative’ and ‘Carer’ visas – the fraud simply moves to other caseloads. … Family reunification visas are now the preferred ‘fraud de jour’.”
FORMER VISA OFFICER: Absolutely. I can wholeheartedly agree. I know that’s happening, yes.

SANDI LOGAN: This is a concern that this occurs, but fortunately we do have systems in place to detect and to prevent.

HAYDEN COOPER: But how many go through undetected?

FORMER VISA OFFICER: I know that there are children that have come to Australia that are not related to the people that they have been sponsored by, that they’re not part of that person’s family. They’ve just been lost in the system, lost in the world of wherever they are.

HAYDEN COOPER: It’s a system that many claim is easy to abuse, one in which false documents and identity changes are not uncommon and women and children are sometimes exploited.

MARION LE: I often come across women and girls who have been beaten and their families and who don’t leave for cultural reasons. You know, I’ve got four cases on my books at the moment of very, very serious abuse here in Australia.

HAYDEN COOPER: It’s why this former insider remains to this day frustrated and disillusioned.

FORMER VISA OFFICER: It’s a policy problem, and we’re so concerned with being politically correct and not being seen as racist that we’re compromising our own integrity.”

Visa fraud allegations hide child trafficking fears
[Australian Broadcasting Company 5/2/12 by Hayden Cooper]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces