Labor warns of exploitation risk for rejected asylum seekers, who make up 84% of the 95,000 who arrived by plane in the past five yearsAustralia on track for record number of asylum seekers arriving by plane, Labor saysMore than 95,000 people have sought asylum in Australia after arriving by plane in the past five years, but more than 84% were found not to have a valid claim. Home affairs department failed to keep track of those claiming asylum at airports Read moreIn 2014-15 just over 8,500 people applied, increasing annually until it peaked in 2017-18 with 27,884 asylum applications. “Of the protection visa applications decided by the department between 1 July 2014 and 19 August 2019, 62,732 persons (84.2%) were refused,” the government said. Labor has repeatedly focused on the high number of protection claims by people flying into the country. Keneally said the plane arrivals outstripped the number of people who sought asylum by boat under a Labor government.

Source: The Guardian October 08, 2019 00:23 UTC