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Wednesday 19 Nov 2014 - 12:00 Makkah mean time-26-1-1436  Canberra (IINA) – Australian Immigration Ministry announced that asylum seekers who registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Indonesia after June 30 this year will not be eligible for resettlement in Australia.
Previously, asylum seekers had been placed on a waiting list, where they would remain in Indonesia before being redirected to Australia.
The move is part of attempts to curb people smugglers' practice of using Indonesia as a transit location for Australian shores.
"While nine of 10 months of 2014 have passed without a successful people smuggling venture to Australia, we know smugglers continue to encourage asylum seekers to travel illegally to Indonesia for the purpose of seeking resettlement in Australia,” Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement on Wednesday.
"These changes should reduce the movement of asylum seekers to Indonesia and encourage them to seek resettlement in or from countries of first asylum," he said.
Australia will continue to resettle some refugees who registered with UNHCR in Indonesia before 1 July 2014. However, there will not be as many places allocated, meaning the waiting period in Indonesia to be resettled in Australia will be much longer.
“Australia's 2014/15 humanitarian program would provide 13,750 places, including 11,000 places for people, nearly all of whom will be in countries of first asylum,” Morrison added.
However, Australia's decision to further limit resettlement drew outrage from opposition members, who slammed the policy and labeled it "a disgrace."
AB/IINA
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