The Australian Government has been urged to review several of the cases of asylum seekers who have spent more than three years on Nauru on the basis of new information supporting their claims for refugee status.
Migration agent, Marion Le, presented Immigration Department officials with the new information late last week, urging that the cases be reopened as a matter of urgency.
Ms Le says that a number of people whose claims were rejected on the basis that they were really from Pakistan are actually from Afghanistan.
Twenty-nine of the 54 asylum seekers on Nauru claim to be from Afghanistan.
There are also 20 Iraqis, two Iranians, two Bangladeshis and a Pakistani.
Ms Le has told the Age newspaper that the accounts of those claiming to be Afghan had been verified by family members whose refugee claims have been accepted by the Afghan embassy.
She is also urging the Government to review the cases of several of the 20 Iraqis on Nauru, describing their emotional situation as "perilous.'
A spokesman for Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said any new information would be assessed by the department to determine whether it warranted a case being re-examined.
