Indefinite immigration detention likely for Brisbane refugee

A Sudanese man who has spent a quarter of his life in custody will likely be detained in an immigration detention facility indefinitely after multiple failed attempts to overturn the cancellation of his visa.

A Sudanese man who has spent almost a quarter of his life in custody will likely be detained in a Queensland immigration detention facility indefinitely after multiple failed attempts to overturn the cancellation of his visa.

The 25-year-old settled in Brisbane as a child in 2007 with his mother and siblings after they fled Sudan when he was aged one, spending eight years in a refugee camp in Uganda before reaching Australia.

But in June 2018, his visa was cancelled after he committed a number of crimes including two counts of armed robbery in 2017 for which he was sentenced to a four-year prison term, suspended after he had served 14 months in jail.

After serving the sentence, the man was taken into immigration detention, and he has now been in custody for more than six years since April 2017.

The 25-year-old has made multiple attempts to overturn the cancellation of his visa.

The full bench of the Federal Court this week dismissed his appeal against the Administrative Appeal Tribunal’s decision to uphold the visa cancellation.

The man had argued his life would be at risk if he was sent back to his home country, where his father died during Sudan’s civil war.

“He said he was scared of being removed to South Sudan where he might get killed because of the war,” the judgment said.

“He would be homeless and have no family or social support because he does not know anyone in South Sudan.

“As a returnee from the west with perceived wealth, the applicant claimed he would be a target.”

The AAT accepted those issues weighed heavily in favour of cancelling the visa revocation but ultimately chose not to amend the decision.

“The Tribunal … accepted the appellant’s contention that indefinite detention was the most likely consequence of a non-revocation decision, noting that the appellant still had an opportunity to apply for a protection visa,” the Federal Court judgment said.

“The Tribunal stated that indefinite detention was a very serious consequence, but that the protection and expectations of the Australian community prevailed in its deliberations.”

The tribunal concluded that the cancellation should be upheld.

“The applicant has shown a complete disregard for authority for much of his adult life in the community and when in prison,” the tribunal wrote.

“Despite receiving a suspended sentence for numerous serious offences in September 2015, the applicant continued to offend resulting in another series of convictions in August 2016 followed by convictions for the most serious offences in April 2018.

“This suggests that the applicant does not learn from his mistakes even when given an opportunity.”

The tribunal found the Australian community would expect the man’s visa to be cancelled and said the “unfortunate consequences arise from the applicant’s own conduct”.

The Federal Court judges found there was insufficient merit in the man’s argument in which he sought to overturn the tribunal’s decision and his appeal was dismissed with costs.