NZYQ detainees to be booted from Australia after govt strikes deal with Nauru

By CAMERON CARPENTER FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA and AAP

Published: 02:24 GMT, 16 February 2025 | Updated: 02:25 GMT, 16 February 2025

Asylum seekers who were released by a High Court ruling in 2023 will be sent to Nauru after the Pacific Island agreed to issues them visas, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Sunday.

The 149 non-citizens released from detention by the landmark ruling included a convicted pedophile who sexually assaulted a 10-year-old boy and a hitman responsible for the murder of a pregnant woman. 

The matter was a political disaster for the government which was accused of not having contingency measures in place if the court ruling went against it.

Now, the government has found a solution, with three asylum seekers who have failed the ‘character test’ to be issued with 30-year Nauru visas and removed from Australia, with more to follow.

‘When somebody has come and treated Australians in a way that shows an appalling character, their visas do get cancelled and when their visas are cancelled, they should leave,’ Mr Burke said.

‘They will be put on a plane and sent to Nauru as soon as arrangements are able to be made.’

Mr Burke refused to outline how much Australian taxpayers would be on the hook for Nauru to take the three detainees off their hands but pointed out there was also a price in them remaining. 

‘Yes, there’s a cost in reaching arrangement with third countries, [but] there is also a cost in the high level of monitoring … that happens when these individuals are in the community here in Australia.’ 

Three violent offenders are set to be removed from Australia after being granted long-term visas by Nauru in a deal with the Albanese government

Nauru President David Adeang (left) and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shake hands during a press conference at Parliament House in December

He expected more visas to be granted by the Nauruan government as more cases are found unsuitable for remaining in Australia.

The minister said those removed would be housed in a facility in Nauru with a shared kitchen space and would be free to move around the island and would also have work rights. 

Mr Burke flagged their pending deportation was likely to be legally challenged. 

The High Court ruling stems from the NZYQ case, where a stateless Rohingya man from Myanmar, faced the prospect of life-long detention because no country would resettle him following his conviction for raping a 10-year-old boy in Australia.

The court ruled that immigration detention is unlawful if there is ‘no real prospect’ of deportation becoming feasible in the ‘reasonably foreseeable future.’

As a result of the decision, 149 asylum seekers who had been held in indefinite detention, considered too dangerous to be on the streets and with no other country to deport them to were released into the community.

Seven had committed murder and attempted murder, 37 sexual-based offending, including child sex offending; 72 assault and violent offending, including kidnapping and armed robbery; 16 domestic violence and stalking and 13 serious drug offending.

Fewer than five were involved in people smuggling and fewer than five were involved in low level or no criminal offences.

The minister said those removed would be housed in a facility in Nauru with a shared kitchen space and would be free to move around the island and would also have work rights

Their release caused a political headache for Labor after the coalition seized on alleged reoffending to slam the government for not doing more to keep them locked up following the court’s ruling. 

In an effort to manage the cohort, the government imposed ankle monitors and curfews, threatening jail for those who didn’t comply.

Powers were passed in December to allow the minister to pay third countries to take people in immigration detention. 

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton took aim at Labor’s record on immigration, saying the Coalition faced another borders ‘mess’ if it returned to power after the upcoming election.

‘(But) we’re happy to have a look at arrangements that the government’s put in place,’ he said in Darwin.

:
NZYQ detainees to be booted from Australia after govt strikes deal with Nauru

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk