Cuts to legal advice for asylum seekers could ‘gum up’ system
President of the Human Rights Commission Gillian Triggs has told The Wire that the government’s cuts to legal advice for asylum seekers may ‘gum up’ the system, because asylum seekers will no longer have the help of a lawyer to articulate and focus their claims.
The government says it wil save $100 million dollars over the next four years by cutting the funding.Many of the harsh measures the government has put in place have been argued to provide a deterrent to asylum seekers, but in this case the cuts will have the greatest effect on of asylum seekers who are already here.There are tens of thousands of asylum seekers living in the community who arrived before the pacific solution was revived by Kevin Rudd.Many are still waiting for their stories to be heard.Those stories are now less likely to be heard by a lawyer before a decision is made about whether to grant protection.