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Sanctuary remains for crims

August 1, 2024

Thursday 01 August 2024
Paul Garvey and Rhiannon Down
The Australian


 A convicted child sex offender and a Lebanese man who was part of a  large-scale drug operation have been spared deportation under reworked visa  cancellation directions, in a significant test for new Immigration Minister  Tony Burke.
 
 Philippines-born Earl Sanchez was last year sentenced to three years'  imprisonment for aggravated sexual intercourse with a child, prompting the  automatic cancellation of his visa.
 
 The Administrative Appeals Tribunal has now found Sanchez should be allowed  to remain in Australia after assessing his case under Direction 110  instructions recently introduced by Mr Burke's predecessor, Andrew Giles.
 
 A 39-year-old Lebanese man identified only as KCKJ also won a deportation  reprieve under Direction 110, with the AAT citing the ongoing war in Gaza as  a factor in its decision.
 
 The Sanchez and KCKJ decisions have raised questions about the effectiveness  of the Direction 110 changes that came into force late in June after Mr Giles  scrambled to overhaul his Continued on Page 5 No new direction as sanctuary  stays for crims previous Direction 99 order. The changes followed The  Australian's revelations that Direction 99 which required decision-makers to  make an offender's ties to Australia a primary consideration when assessing  whether they should be allowed to remain in the country had led to a surge in  the number of serious offenders having their visas reinstated.
 
 Sanchez and KCKJ are the only two of six AAT cases assessed under Direction  110 to date who have succeeded in having their visa reinstated.
 
 The new Direction 110 clarified that the safety of the Australian community  was the government's highest priority and the key principle of the  decision-making framework.
 
 The Sanchez and KCKJ decisions shows there is still scope for AAT members to  allow serious foreign offenders to remain in the country.
 
 Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the cases demonstrated  that the rewritten ministerial direction was no more effective than Direction  99, calling for a return to the direction in place under the previous  Morrison government and urging Mr Burke to take responsibility for those  spared deportation.
 
 "Unsurprisingly Direction 110 is working no better  than Direction 99 because connection to the community remains a primary  consideration, rather than a secondary consideration as it was under the  previous government," he said. "We warned the government this would  happen. Tony Burke should use his authority as a new minister to urgently  reverse Andrew Giles's second failed di- rection or accept personal  responsibility for every criminal spared deportation going forward."
 
 Sanchez moved to Australia in 2006 when he was nine, but left home at 13 due  to a volatile home environment and his drug use.
 
 According to the AAT decision, Sanchez was smoking marijuana in his apartment  with a teenage girl and his housemate in January 2022 when he began rubbing  the girl's inner thigh. He then digitally penetrated her. His subsequent  imprisonment prompted the mandatory cancellation of his visa.
 
 AAT member Shane Evans found the presence in Australia of Sanchez's three  children and his strong ties to Australia weighed strongly in favour of  revoking the cancellation. "I accept Mr Sanchez sincerely intends to  play a positive parental role in the lives of his children and has the  capacity to do so, and the primary consideration of the best interests of  minor children weighs in favour of revocation," Mr Evans wrote.
 
 "Mr Sanchez has significant and close ties in the Australian community,  and this consideration weighs heavily in favour of revocation. Having resided  in Australia since age nine, Mr Sanchez would face substantial impediments in  establishing himself without an existing support network. This consideration  weighs strongly in favour of revoking the cancellation of his visa."
 
 KCKJ, meanwhile, had moved to Australia from Lebanon in 2018 when he was 33.  Two years later, he was arrested for being involved with two others in the  unlawful supply of MDMA and cocaine and was sentenced to four years and two  months' imprisonment.
 
 The court found KCKJ was in a "subordinate" role, with the two  co-accused each receiving much longer sentences.
 
 AAT member Paul Fairall cited the "enormous weight of love and  support" shown for KCKJ by his family as a significant consideration in  his decision to allow him to remain in Australia and described the situation  as a "secondchance case ... that comes with little risk to the  community".
 
 He also noted the instability in the Middle East amid the war in Gaza and  ongoing travel warnings in place for Lebanon supported the reinstatement of  KCKJ's visa.
 
 "My overall assessment is that while the protection and expectations of  the Australian community weigh in favour of affirming the delegate's  decision, they do not press so heavily as to exclude countervailing  considerations.
 
 "This is so taking account of the Direction requiring the protection of  the community 'generally' to be given greater weight than other primary  considerations," Professor Fairall wrote.
 
 "The applicant's ties to Australia, the best interests of his minor  children, the likely delay in ongoing processing, and the extent of  impediments he will face if removed all favour revoking the delegate's  decision.
 
 Mr Burke as minister has the power to re-cancel any visa decisions made by  the AAT, and a spokeswoman for the Department of Home Affairs confirmed that  the minister would be kept informed of the tribunal's decisions.
 
 "Community safety is a key principle of the decision-making framework  under ministerial Direction 110," she said.
 
 "The Department of Home Affairs works closely with the minister to  ensure he is aware of AAT set asides for further consideration as  appropriate."
 
 The Sanchez decision has been a topic of discussion among immigration  lawyers, given it has shown cancellations can still be overturned under  Direction 110.
 
 Carina Ford Immigration Lawyers partner and migration specialist Dushan  Nikolic told The Australian he was not convinced Direction 110 would make a  substantial difference to how cases were considered by the AAT.
 
 He said the clarification under Direction 110 that the protection of the  Australian community should generally be given more weight than other primary  considerations reflected what had previously been happening under earlier  ministerial directions.
 
 "The new direction simply confirms what has happened in practice, in my  experience; it's always been the case that one primary consideration could  outweigh other primary considerations."
 
 Kinslor Prince Lawyers principal solicitor and migration specialist David  Prince said the implementation of Direction 110 had tipped the scales further  in favour of the government over the applicant. "The rhetoric, certainly  out of the opposition when Direction 110 came into being, was there was no  change and it's not going to affect anything I think that's inaccurate and  unfair," he said.

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