02/18/2004: 
Nauru
Nauru, Manus Detention Centres Cost $170m(Aus)
from The Age (Melbourne)
Canberra -- The cost of running the detention centres on Nauru and Manus island has so far cost taxpayers about $170 million, the Immigration Department said yesterday.
Department officer Vince McMahon revealed the cost to a Senate committee yesterday - the first time the department has broken down the figures.
The department had budgeted $470 million over four years based on declining estimates of the number of boat people trying to reach Australia claiming asylum.
The centres were set up as part of the Federal Government's Pacific Solution to process asylum seekers following the Tampa stand-off in August 2001. Mr McMahon said about $122 million of that figure had gone to the International Organisation for Migration, which runs the centres.
He said the figure included the costs of staff from the Immigration Department and the Australian Protective Service.
Mr McMahon said 1535 people had been processed by the two centres. Nauru now holds 277 asylum seekers, while Manus Island in Papua New Guinea has one refugee, Aladdin Sisalem. The Age last week revealed it cost $4.3 million over the past six months to keep the Manus Island centre open.
More
Australian Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett said the $170 million cost wasabsurd and he expected the figure was underestimated, while Opposition
immigration spokesman Stephen Smith said it was an extravagant waste of money.
The committee also heard that the Government was considering offering a
lesser form of protection to Iraqi asylum seekers on Nauru who fail to meet
refugee convention guidelines.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has urged the Government
since last year to offer a short-term complementary form of protection to
Iraqis, given the instability of their homeland. Department officer Peter Hughes
confirmed it was under consideration.
Mr Hughes said the department had frozen the processing of claims for
permanent protection of 4269 Iraqis in Australia on temporary protection visas
due to a lack of reliable information about the country.
Mr Hughes said that more than 90 per cent of the 8912 holders of temporary
protection visas, including Afghans and Iranians, had applied for further
protection. He said 660 primary decisions had been made, resulting in 33 visas
granted and 627 refused. Over 400 had applied for a review of the decision.
TPV HOLDERS IN AUSTRALIA
Iraqi 4269
Afghan 3661
Iranian 475
Other 507
Total 8912
Applied further protection 8453
Processed 660
Rejected 627
Successful 33
SOURCE: IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT
2 Annotations Submitted
Wednesday the 18th of February, santo26 noted:
who is Aladdin Sisalem and why do they have a whole detention centre just for him?
its awesome to finally see some numbers. good work, prof_.
Wednesday the 18th of February, Abe Froman noted:
Yeah, dude ... the government spends 4.3 mil a year on Sisalem. I'd live in a prison if it were a $4.3 million dollor prison that I had all to myself. Imagine how good the food must be.
