Australia pays asylum seekers to go back

Australia has been giving grants of as much as $4,000 to help people who have failed to win asylum in Australia return to their nation of origin, records show. The so-called reintegration assistance program has awarded cash and other considerations to unsuccessful asylum seekers, The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph reported Monday. The newspaper said it had obtained data indicating the Gillard government has given grants to 77 asylum seekers since the program was initiated in November. The program is budgeted for $7 million, the newspaper said. The grants can include funds for business start-ups. The amount of the grants is lower than in a similar program under former Prime Minister John Howard, which awarded as much as $10,000 to failed asylum seekers to return to their country of origin, the newspaper said. A spokesman for Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the reintegration assistance program could save the Australian government money. "It encourages voluntary return, which represents a significant cost saving to the government compared to enforced removals," said the spokesman, whose name was not reported.