By Tess Ikonomou in Canberra
AUSTRALIA may begin releasing detained refugees within days following a landmark High Court ruling.
A majority of the High Court on Wednesday found indefinite immigration detention was unlawful.
At least 92 detainees who can’t return to their original country might be freed and another 340 in long-term detention could join them, the court was told.
In a statement on Friday, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said the government was “carefully” considering the implications of the judgment and would continue to work with authorities to protect community safety.
“Other impacted individuals will be released and any visas granted to those individuals will be subject to appropriate conditions,” he said.
The plaintiff, a Rohingya man from Myanmar known as NZYQ, has been released.
He faced the prospect of life in detention, as no country would resettle him because he raped a 10-year-old child.
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said Australia held immigration detainees for an average of 708 days, with 124 people detained for more than five years.
Who can be trusted?
In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.
If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.
Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.
Thank you,
Ian Meikle, editor
Leave a Reply