Australia and Iran are reportedly moving closer to agreement on the repatriation of Iranian asylum seekers who have been found not to be genuine refugees but refuse to voluntarily return home.
According to The West Australian, an Iranian delegation led by FM director-general for consular affairs Ali Chegeni have had high-level discussions with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton in Canberra over two days to draw up a memorandum of understanding on the matter.
In return for Tehran taking back the failed asylum seekers, Australia would offer scholarships to Iranian university students, work and holiday visas to Iranian citizens and allow Iran to build consulates in Sydney and Melbourne.
The newspaper said the deal would demand there would be no retribution from the Iranian government towards returned asylum seekers.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop raised the issue with Iranian officials during an historic trip to Iran in April, inviting them to visit Australia as soon as possible to continue discussions.
Under the former Rudd and Gillard governments, Iranians accounted for a large proportion of the irregular migrants who claimed asylum in Australia after paying people smugglers to travel by boat from Indonesia.
Iran has so far refused to accept any forced return of thousands of Iranians including about 300 in detention centres on Manus Island, 166 on Nauru, 440 in the mainland, and at least 8000 waiting on bridging visa.
Australia has been unable to carry out involuntary removals as the failed asylum seeks had destroyed their Iranian travel documents on arrival and Iran could only re-issue replacement documents if its citizens formally apply and identify themselves.
Last year, one Iranian asylum seeker, Reza Berati, was killed on Manus Island.
Immigration officials often pointed to some Iranian asylum seekers as being the most troublesome.
There have been hunger strikes and other attempts by unsuccessful asylum seekers to force their stay, but the government has vowed it won't bow to emotional blackmail and will send home those who are not genuine refugees.
Australia made dramatic changes in its immigration policy in 2013 amid the growing pre-election domestic pressure to stop boats in the final months of the former Labor government led by Kevin Rudd.
The policy has been taken further by the current Liberal National coalition government, led by Tony Abbott, which effectively zeroed illegal boat arrivals and deaths, allowing the government to use its quota for the most vulnerable, instead of so-called “queue jumpers”.
The changes adopted with bi-partisan support of the two major parties made it clear that anyone who seek to enter Australia illegally by boat, under the Asylum Legacy Act, are no longer entitled to enter or stay in Australia while their refugee claims are processed.
They are transferred to Nauru or Papua New Guinea for processing, and are explained that they will not be considered for resettlement in Australia, instead given an option to return or choose to be settled in Cambodia.
The then Immigration Minister Scott Morrison described restrictions to the resettlement eligibility as “taking the sugar off the table”.
The government also introduced Temporary Protection Visa’s (TPV) late 2014 to specifically deal with the backlog of 30,000 asylum seekers yet to be processed left by the former government.
A TPV holding refugees are required to reapply every three years, in case conditions had changed in their homeland, making it safe for their return.
The government reported that there was 0 boat arrival in 2014, compared to 300 boats with approximately 20,000 people on board arrived in 2013.