Current:Home > reviewsAustralian Parliament rushes through laws that could see detention of freed dangerous migrants -AssetLink
Australian Parliament rushes through laws that could see detention of freed dangerous migrants
View
Date:2025-04-11 20:37:34
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government Wednesday rushed legislation through Parliament that could place behind bars some migrants who were freed after the High Court ruled their indefinite detention was unconstitutional.
The House of Representatives voted 68 to 59 on Wednesday night to create so-called community safety orders. The vote came a day after the Senate passed the same legislation.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles will now be able to apply to a judge to imprison for up to three years migrants with criminal records for violent or sexual offenses because they pose an unacceptable risk to the public.
“We’ve already begun preparations to ensure that we can do all that we can as quickly as we can,” Giles said before the draft legislation became law.
“The preventative detention regime would allow for the court to detain the worst of the worst offenders,” he added.
Giles declined to say how many of 148 migrants freed starting last month who for various reasons can’t be deported might be detained under community safety orders.
Federal law had previously only allowed preventative detention for extremists convicted of terrorism offenses. But state laws allow certain rapists and violent criminals to be detained after their sentences expire.
Amnesty International refugee rights adviser Graham Thom said earlier Wednesday he was alarmed that the government was rushing through the legislation without appropriate parliamentary scrutiny.
“A sensible conversation is needed when balancing community safety with personal liberty. This is not a time for knee jerk responses,” he said.
Adam Bandt, leader of the Greens party, said the laws created a harsher justice system for people are not Australian citizens.
“Some of them have committed heinous crimes, many of them haven’t,” Bandt said, referring to the freed migrants.
The High Court on Nov. 8 ruled the indefinite detention of a stateless Myanmar Rohingya man who had been convicted of raping a 10-year-old boy was unconstitutional.
Government lawyers say the judges left open the option for such migrants to be detained if they pose a public risk. That decision would be made by a judge rather than a government minister.
The ruling said the government could no longer indefinitely detain foreigners who had been refused Australian visas, but could not be deported to their homelands and no third country would accept them.
Most of the 148 who have been released on the basis of the High Court ruling have been ordered to wear ankle tracking bracelets and to stay home during nightly curfews.
Police announced on Wednesday a fourth recently freed migrant had been arrested. The man had been charged with breaking his curfew and stealing luggage from Melbourne’s airport.
Another migrant with a criminal record for violent sexual assault was charged with the indecent assault of a woman. Another was charged with breaching his reporting obligations as a registered sex offender, and a fourth man was charged with drug possession.
veryGood! (55997)
Related
- Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear ready to campaign for Harris-Walz after losing out for spot on the ticket
- WNBA postseason preview: Strengths and weaknesses for all 8 playoff teams
- Michael Madsen Accuses Wife of Driving Son to Kill Himself in Divorce Filing
- Josh Heupel's rise at Tennessee born out of Oklahoma firing that was blessing in disguise
- Olympic women's basketball bracket: Schedule, results, Team USA's path to gold
- Wheel of Fortune Contestants' Bad Luck Curse Shocked Even Ryan Seacrest
- Body language experts assess Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul face-off, cite signs of intimidation
- Judge denies effort to halt State Fair of Texas’ gun ban
- Euphoria's Hunter Schafer Says Ex Dominic Fike Cheated on Her Before Breakup
- Shohei Ohtani shatters Dodgers records with epic 3-homer, 10-RBI game vs. Marlins
Ranking
- Olympic disqualification of gold medal hopeful exposes 'dark side' of women's wrestling
- Tomorrow X Together's Yeonjun on solo release: 'I'm going to keep challenging myself'
- Midwest States Struggle to Fund Dam Safety Projects, Even as Federal Aid Hits Historic Highs
- Joel Embiid signs a 3-year, $193 million contract extension with the 76ers
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- Chris Pine Confirms New Romance During Vacation in Italy
- North Carolina judge won’t prevent use of university digital IDs for voting
- Joshua Jackson Shares Where He Thinks Dawson's Creek's Pacey Witter and Joey Potter Are Today
Recommendation
Travis Hunter, the 2
Sebastian Stan Seemingly Reveals Gossip Girl Costar Leighton Meester Was His First Love
‘They try to keep people quiet’: An epidemic of antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes
No decision made by appeals court in elections betting case
North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
Trump Media plummets to new low on the first trading day the former president can sell his shares
Michael Madsen Accuses Wife of Driving Son to Kill Himself in Divorce Filing
Midwest States Struggle to Fund Dam Safety Projects, Even as Federal Aid Hits Historic Highs