An Afghan sex offender has been charged in South Australia just a few weeks after he was released from immigration detention, sparking criticisms about the government’s failure to protect citizens.
On Dec. 4, Aliyawar Yawari, a 65-year-old man, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court after being charged with two counts of indecent assault for attacking a woman.
The ruling resulted in the release of over 140 detainees, many of whom were serious criminal offenders.
Prior to his latest arrest, Mr. Yawari assaulted three elderly women between 2013 and 2014 and was considered a “danger to the Australian community” by a South Australian judge.
Opposition Calls For Ministers to Resign
Following the arrest of two former detainees, Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan condemned the Labor government and urged Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil to resign.
“The time has come for the prime minister to do the right thing and ask for these ministers to resign, and if they don’t he should sack them.”
The shadow minister also alleged that the Labor government failed to prepare necessary measures to deal with the outcome of the High Court ruling.
“We warned about this. We said that they needed to have tough measures in place immediately after the High Court had made the decision,” he said, noting that the government was warned as early as June.
“They failed to be ready for that eventuality, and that failure has led to the community not being safe.”
Meanwhile, the government has rejected the opposition’s calls for the two ministers to resign.
Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said it made no sense for Mr. Giles and Ms. O'Neil to step down from their positions.
“The logic of that is that the High Court should resign if you really think there was some way to prevent this,” he told Nine radio.
“The reality is the High Court has made this decision. That is their right and prerogative in our judicial system.”
Government to Amend Laws to Bring Serious Offenders Back to Detention
The Labor government has announced that it will introduce amendments to migration laws on Dec. 6 to deal with the aftermath of the High Court ruling.Ms. O'Neil said the legal changes would allow the government to apply preventative detention orders to released detainees.
The orders will be based on similar measures for high-risk terror offenders.
To re-detain a released immigrant, the immigration minister will need to apply to a court.
However, the detainee must have been charged with a crime resulting in at least seven years of imprisonment.
In addition, the minister has to convince the court that the person is a danger to the community.
If approved by the court, a preventative detention order will take effect for three years but must be reviewed annually.
Violating an order will cause a detainee to face a minimum sentence of one year of imprisonment and a maximum of five.
For the amendments to pass the parliament, Labor will need the Coalition’s support, as the Greens party opposes any type of preventative detention orders.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton stated that his party could back the legal changes provided they were reasonable.
“If the government has adequate measures to keep Australians safe, then we will support those measures, and we'll see what they have to say,” he told reporters.
“If we see a bad bill, we’re not going to support it.”
Greens Senator Nick McKim criticised the law amendments, saying they were detrimental to refugees.
“It creates two different classes of people in this country under the law, depending on whether you are the holder of a particular class of visa or not,” he said.
