Two more immigration detainees arrested in wake of high court ruling

A further two former immigration detainees released in the wake of the high court’s NZYQ ruling have been rearrested after breaches of their conditions. The men’s arrests over the Christmas period bring the total number of arrests to seven since the high court ruled that indefinite detention is unlawful where it is not possible to deport the non citizen.

At least 148 people have been released as a result of the November ruling , sparking a political crisis for the Albanese government. Fifth immigration detainee arrested after release due to high court ruling Read more An Afghan man, 45, was arrested and charged in Sydney’s western suburbs on Saturday after allegedly breaching his curfew on a number of occasions, the Australian federal police confirmed in a statement on New Year’s Eve.

Federal policy say the man, who will remain in custody, is due to appear in Parramatta local court on 19 January. A 38 year old Iranian man was separately arrested at a Perth property on Christmas Eve for allegedly breaching his visa. He has been charged with one count of failing to comply with a curfew condition.

Both men face a maximum penalty of five years’ jail and a $93,900 fine under fresh laws passed in December. In the final sitting week for the year, the parliament passed laws allowing the immigration minister to apply to state supreme courts for orders seeking the “worst offenders” in the cohort to be re detained.

Under the preventive detention regime , courts will be able to order non citizens convicted of serious violent or sexual offences, and who cannot be deported, to successive terms of three years in detention if satisfied to a “high degree of probability” that there is an “unacceptable risk” the person will reoffend.

Labor passes preventive detention laws as judges gain power to cancel citizenship of serious offenders Read more The legislative changes drew heavy criticism from the Greens, crossbenchers and refugee and asylum seeker advocates, who said the preventive detention regime created a parallel legal system for migrants and refugees to be jailed on the basis of what they might do in the future.

The opposition’s home affairs spokesperson, James Paterson, criticised the federal government for not using the new powers to prevent former detainees from reoffending. “They should have already made applications to the court to get the highest risk offenders off the streets,” he said in a statement to Guardian Australia.

“It’s time for the minister for home affairs showed up for work to protect the community.” In early December, the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, said the government had begun making applications to the court for some of the “worst offenders” released. “We’ve already begun working through the worst offenders to make sure that we can do everything we can to keep the community safe, ensuring, of course, that we are putting in place effective applications to the court which involves … working very closely with the states.”.