November 14, 2023
The handling of asylum seekers convicted of heinous crimes and released from detention after a High Court ruling last week has been so shambolic that advocates now warn they may end up homeless — potentially committing more offences to survive.
With the Federal Government claiming their movements were being closely monitored with bail-like conditions, including regular reporting obligations, they admitted on Monday they were considering options to fix the loophole.
The West Australian has previously revealed how more than 50 were being released from Yongah Hill Detention Centre onto Perth streets after the High Court deemed indefinite detention of immigrants was unlawful.
Among those released was Aliyawa Yawari, 65, who was jailed in 2016 for bashing a woman in South Australia. He was charged with raping the woman but acquitted of that charge at trial, according to the Adelaide Advertiser.
He was reportedly given a suspended sentence but then told to spend time behind bars after he attacked a 64-year-old woman by indecently assaulting her and hitting her in the neck with a walking stick.
“This is now the third offence involving a lone elderly woman with sexual overtones to it. The offender is making himself a danger to the Australian community,” the judge said.
Yawari is among a dozen detainees staying in a Perth hotel — many bunking together because there wasn’t enough room.
Speaking outside the motel on Monday while brandishing a photo of himself as a much younger man, the former abattoir worker said he was keen to return to work in Australia.
Refugee advocate Gerry Georgatos on Monday warned many were at a “huge risk of imminent homelessness”.
“Support services will also do as much as they can, but they’re also plagued by the fact that rental prospects are almost zero in WA, and public housing waiting lists are beyond reprehensible,” he said.
Mr Georgatos said that upon release from prison, the asylum seekers completed an assessment through the Prisoners Review Board that deemed them suitable to walk the streets.
So far, 80 people have been released from long-term detention after the High Court overturned a 20-year precedent allowing it last week. It was found that the decision to keep stateless refugees locked up was unconstitutional — even if they have been convicted of serious crimes.
The Government says the released detainees will be eligible for the status resolution support services program, including receiving short-term accommodation for a couple of weeks to ensure they are not immediately homeless.
Amid a political stoush in Canberra over the decision, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said Border Force officials had been working with State and Territory authorities before the court’s decision was handed down in recognition of how serious an adverse decision would be.
“We took those steps in advance of it,” he said.
Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson said the Government should consider extending the existing terrorism framework to people with cancelled visas who cannot be deported.
“I’m not convinced that only issuing visas with conditions attached to them is sufficient, given that the High Court has already found that these people cannot be detained pending deportation, which is what normally happens when someone breaches a condition on their visas,” he said.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the Government was considering its options.
“I’d make the point that the former government did absolutely nothing to prepare for the eventuality which has occurred because of the High Court’s decision,” he said.
Premier Roger Cook said WA Police knew the refugees’ release and had taken a “particularly close interest” in their movements.
“Many of them, as you know, have been convicted for some pretty tough crimes,” Mr Cook said. “They might have done their time, but obviously, they are still people of interest to the police.”
