Released Immigration Detainee on the Run, 4 Refusing Electronic Monitoring

Activists gather outside Park Hotel where 45 immigrants are detained in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 6, 2022. (Diego Fedele/Getty Images)

An immigration detainee released into the community following a recent High Court decision is on the run, while four are refusing electronic monitoring.

Australian Border Force (ABF) Commissioner Michael Outram said 138 people had been released from detention requiring electronic monitoring.

The detainees were released by the federal government after Australia’s High Court reversed a 20 year precedent to rule that indefinite immigration detention was unlawful.

While 132 have agreed to electronic monitoring, four are not complying and two cases are difficult and complex, involving health issues.

“Of the six that remain four of those have been referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for investigation. That means there’s been noncompliance in those four cases,” Mr. Outram said in a press conference.

In response to questions about the unmonitored detainees, Mr. Outram revealed the border force had been unable to reach one of the detainees.

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“In terms of the scale of offending, all I’ll say is that they’re at the lower end of risk to the community, those four. In one case that’s been referred to the AFP we’re still making attempts to contact that person. The other three have been contacted and we know where they are,” Mr. Outram said.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said he had provided the deputy leader of the Liberal Party with details of the offending among all of the released detainees and briefed the opposition twice.

“What I can tell you is that there is some very, very serious offending here ... including offences against children, including sexual offences, including other very serious violent crimes,” he said.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said the detainees were in detention under the Labor government and would not be in the community if she had the “legal power.”

“Just to clarify, these people were in detention under our government. These are decisions that Andrew and I made to keep them in detention. If we had legal power, they would not be in the community today. But the High Court decision must be complied with, and we’re doing that in the way that best protects the safety of the community,” she said.

The federal government announced $255 million (US$169 million) for an AFP and ABF joint operation to help ensure the individuals are complying with their visa conditions. This includes curfews and wearing ankle monitors.

High Court NZYQ Vs Minister for Immigration

The High Court is expected to release the reasons for its decision on NZYQ vs the Minister for Immigration at 2:15 p.m. (AEDT) on Nov. 28.

NZYQ is a pseudonym for a stateless Rohingya man who was kept in immigration detention after being convicted of a child sex offence. Despite Australian government attempts to deport him to six countries, including the United States, no other country was willing to resettle him.

The order announced by Chief Justice Stephen Gageler on Nov. 8 declared that the plaintiff’s detention and continued detention was unlawful in the absence of any real prospect of his removal from Australia in the foreseeable future.

Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson said the Albanese government’s “final excuses for not acting to protect the community” will evaporate when the High Court provides its reasoning.

“The Albanese government needs to be ready to go tomorrow with legislation to introduce a preventative or continuing detention order regime for at least the highest risk offenders in this cohort so the government can apply to a court to have them detained and protect the community over summer,” Mr. Paterson said in a doorstop at Parliament House.

“If the Parliament rises before Christmas without having dealt with this issue, we run the very real risk that one of these very serious offenders re-offend against the Australian community over summer and that would be totally unacceptable.”

Asylum seekers, refugees, and advocacy and faith groups have now launched a campaign for a royal commission into immigration detention from Parliament House.

Behrouz Boochani, an author, journalist, and refugee formerly held at Manus Island said in a statement, “we call for a royal commission because of truth, humanity, and history.”

“People of Australia have this right to know the truth, we refugees and the families who have been damaged have the right to be heard,” he said.

Bill Shorten Confident AFP Will Find Missing Detainee

Meanwhile, Government Services Minister Bill Shorten has conveyed confidence the AFP will find the missing person.

Mr. Shorten said he does not believe politicians should “try to be police people” and he has confidence in their ability.

“Listen, I’ve got no doubt that the Federal Police will find this fellow. There’s not much more I can add to what’s been in the story this morning. We don’t comment on individual matters,” Mr. Shorten said on the Today Show.

Mr. Shorten expressed the High Court decision had come “out of the blue” for the government after a long standing precedent was reversed.

“We’ve had one set of laws for 20 years, and the High Court said, no, you can’t have them. So, what we’re doing is everything we can to put new laws into place to deal with this High Court decision, which happened only a matter of a couple of weeks ago,” he said.

The former Labor leader also provided an assurance he would not be running for the leadership of the Labor Party, amid Prime Minister Anthony Albanese struggling in the polls.

“I’m not going to run,” he said.