Australian High Court Revealed Reasons Behind the Release of Convicted Child Sex Offender

‘Release from unlawful detention is not to be equated with a grant of a right to remain in Australia,’ the judges said.

Refugee supporters hold placards as they gather to protest the Nauru refugee detention camp in Sydney, Australia, October 5, 2016. Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images

The High Court of Australia has delivered the reasons behind its decision to rule indefinite immigration detention unlawful, overturning a 20 year precedent. 

The ruling has allowed over 140 people—many of whom were convicted of criminal offences—to walk free from detention centres and prompted the federal government to pour $255 million (US$170 million) into monitoring the released detainees.

Following the High Court decision, the centre-left Albanese government has rushed legislation through parliament to enact a preventive detention regime that might allow them to put high-risk detainees back into custody.

At the centre of the landmark decision was the case of a stateless Rohingya Muslim man from Myanmar (also known as Burma), referred to by the pseudonym NZYQ, who was convicted of raping a 10-year-old boy.