How Malaysians are exploiting Australia’s protection visa

Australia’s visa system has been overrun by Malaysian scammers.

Many Malaysians are rorting Australia’s migration system by scamming the protection visa system. This widespread practice has even been acknowledged recently by the Malaysian government.

An increasing number of Malaysians are deliberately overstaying in Australia and resorting to the protection visa route as the visa processing is quite cheap. Moreover, the maximum penalty on being caught out was only to be sent back to Malaysia, at Australia’s expense.

Being cheaply available and deportation hardly being a strong deterrent, the Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Marzuki Yahya acknowledged that there were indeed few disincentives for workers to try their luck.

Each year, many Malaysians come to Australia on tourist visas, knowing that they would be overstaying. A majority of such Malaysians take up seasonal farm work. In an attempt to extend their work stay in Australia, they later apply for protection visas.

In 2019, a parliamentary committee found that the highest number of visa overstayers in Australia were Malaysians. Described as an “organised scam”, the committee reported that Malaysians were the second-highest number of applicants where it came to applying for protection visa in Australia.

It is estimated that, in recent years, as many as 33,000 Malaysians had applied for refugee status. Where it came to foreign nationals living illegally in Australia, more than 10,000 Malaysian nationals were believed to be living in Australia. This is more than the nationals of any other country living illegally in Australia.

As per a statement by Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysians are exploiting Australia’s immigration laws in order to enable them to “stay longer in an unlawful manner”.

Easy access to Australia for Malaysians can be said to be a significant part of the problem. Australia grants easy access to people from specific countries, which include – U.S., Singapore, Canada, Japan, and Malaysia – through the Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) system.

Eligible for ETA, Malaysians can apply for short-term Australia travel for $20. There is also no need for Malaysians to approach the High Commission or the Embassy.

Malaysians, gaining easy access to Australia, later apply for asylum. In the time that it takes for their application to be processed, they stay on, working illegally.

Nevertheless, as per David Coleman, the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, the number of claims for protection visas had “reduced significantly in recent months.”

In 2019, till May 31, there have been 3181 applications for protection visas by Malaysians. In the same period last year, the number stood at 4663.

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