V o t e : I m m i g r a t i o n
P r o p o s a l :
Community-Based Accommodation for Border
Refugee Status Claimants
F u n d i n g a l l o c a t i o n : O t h e r
Short Description
Cabinet agreed [CAB Min (02) 3/2] that the Department of Labour’s New Zealand
Immigration Service (NZIS) seek funding and approval in the Budget Round for a
number of measures to manage immigration risk, as part of a counter-terrorism
package. One of these was
Community-Based Accommodation for Border
Refugee Status Claimants. Ministers directed officials to report back by the end of
February 2002 on options for releasing refugee status claimants detained at the border
on condition that they reside at the Auckland Refugee Council Hostel. The paper
noted that there could be fiscal implications should those refugee status claimants not
be granted permits (enabling them to apply for emergency benefits) upon release.
There are significant advantages to not granting refugee status claimants work
permits. In particular, refugee status claimants found not to have genuine cases can
be easily removed from New Zealand, both because under international civil aviation
law the airline which brought them is required to remove them, and because they do
not have the ability to appeal against removal from New Zealand. An advantage to
housing them in the community is that it is more cost effective than detaining in the
Mangere Refugee Reception Centre (MRRC) or granting them work permits and
therefore entitling them to benefits.
This bid therefore seeks a transfer from Vote: Work and Income to meet the costs
associated with accommodating, feeding, and providing health checks to those
claimants in the community, noting that these costs would have been met through
benefits had the claimants been granted permits. It identifies savings of $0.051
million (GST inclusive) in 2002/03 and outyears and recommends that these be
applied to the Budget bid “Security: Managing Immigration Risks”.
Impact on the Provisions
VOTE: IMMIGRATION
$000 (GST incl)
2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 Outyears
Net operating impact
-
(51)
(51)
(51)
(51)
Total Operating Impact
-
601
601
601
601
Offsetting Savings/Revenue*
- (652) (657) (664) (664)
Benefits
Following the events of 11 September 2001, tighter detention guidelines were put in
place for undocumented arrivals at the border who claim refugee status. There are
potential benefits for New Zealand from enhanced requirements for positive
identification of undocumented individuals who arrive and claim refugee status.
Community-based accommodation is a relatively cost-effective mechanism of
accommodating people who have been released from Mangere Refugee Reception
Centre and, as noted above, enables the NZIS to remove people found not to be
refugees in a relatively straightforward manner. It also assists with the resettlement
process of those people who are found to have genuine cases to be considered
refugees.
By contributing, along with the general Security initiatives, to the Government’s role
in maintaining New Zealand’s security while upholding New Zealand‘s international
obligations, this proposal contributes to the goals “Strengthen National Identity and
Uphold the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi” and “Restore Trust in Government
and Provide Strong Social Services”.
Costing information
The operational design of the process is being worked through as part of the
development of the Cabinet report back due by 28 February 2002. The report back
will examine the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of various mechanisms for
accommodating detained asylum seekers who could be released on conditions from
the MRRC.
This bid represents the results of the preliminary investigation of costings. It is based
on 180 persons per year (including some people in family groups) spending on
average 15 weeks each in community-based accommodation, at a cost of $180 per
week each. The total comes to $0.601 million (GST inclusive), and compares with
the estimated benefit expenditure of the group of $0.651 million in 2002/03. The
assumptions are set out below.
Assumptions:
most detained border claimants to be placed into community-based accommodation
without permits, following new operating instructions
funding provided to community organisations at $180 per week
($100 for accommodation, $80 for food)
Estimates of numbers over full year
79 border claimants detained
19/09/01 - 7/02/02
141.00 days
0.56 claimants per day at present
at that rate over entire year
205 maximum number per year
previous expectation (Budget 2000)
10 per month
0.333 per day
at that rate over entire year
122 minimum number per year
best estimate
180 per year
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Costings
$180 per week (for accommodation and food, as above)
15 weeks average stay
$350 health costs (one off)
$10,000 Administration
$559,000 Total
$628,875 Plus GST
-$27,706 less money granted in 2000 Budget Round
$601,169 Total Net GST inclusive
$241 average benefit entitlement per week 02/03
$3,619 total benefit entitlement per person
$651,434 total estimated net benefit entitlement
$50,265 Difference between bid and entitlement
Risks
Should a decision be made to not fund the costs associated with providing
community-based accommodation for some persons whose identities cannot be
positively ascertained, it would not be possible for this option to be implemented.
There are limits to the holding capacity of the MRRC. Therefore, it is likely that a
number of people whose identities cannot be positively established would be granted
permits and released into the community, or would be committed to prison. Both
outcomes would mean that the benefits gained from not granting permits would not be
realisable.
Should the total number of person / weeks exceed 2,700 (ie if more than 180 people
per year meet the criteria for community-based accommodation, or if the average
number of weeks in community-based accommodation is greater than 15) this funding
would not be sufficient to meet the associated costs. This could also necessitate the
review of the operational instruction which changed the NZIS’s business processes.
Should the designated community-based accommodation be full (ie not physically
have room for more persons released on conditions), even if there were funding
available for board, this would also raise issues. These potential issues will be
highlighted during the development of the report back.
Evaluation
Community-based accommodation has not been evaluated. The success of
community-based accommodation would be measured by the health and welfare of
the people detained and the number of detainees who abscond.
The entire Security package, including the community-based accommodation would
be monitored and evaluated in terms of the overall reduction in refugee status claims,
and in particular of unsubstantiated refugee status claims. These are monitored on an
ongoing basis.
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Draft Recommendations to Cabinet Committee
It is recommended that Ministers:
1.
note that Cabinet directed [CAB Min (02) 3/2 refers] the New Zealand
Immigration Service to report back on options for releasing refugee status
claimants detained at the border on condition that they reside at the Auckland
Refugee Council Hostel, by 28 February 2002;
2.
agree to support the proposal for providing funding to support those refugee status
claimants who were released into the community without permits;
3.
approve the following changes to appropriations to give effect to the decisions
made in recommendation 2 above, with consequential impacts on the operating
balance;
$ m – increase / (decrease)
Vote Immigration
2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 Outyears GST
Vote Immigration
Departmental output class:
Refugee Services
- 0.601 0.601 0.601 0.601
Incl
(funded by revenue Crown)
Vote: Work and Income
Benefits and other
unrequited expenses:
Unemployment benefit
- (0.408) (0.408) (0.408) (0.408) N/A
(funded by revenue Crown)
Accommodation supplement
- (0.139) (0.139) (0.139) (0.139)
N/A
(funded by revenue Crown)
Special benefit
- (0.105) (0.105) (0.105) (0.105)
N/A
(funded by revenue Crown)
Total
-
(0.051)
(0.051)
(0.051)
(0.051)
4.
agree to apply the savings identified above to the Budget bid “Security:
Managing Immigration Risks”.
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