Labor under fire over release of immigration detainees with outstanding arrest warrants

Labor is facing calls to explain how immigration detainees with outstanding warrants were released into the community, as police prepare for a seventh arrest.

Labor is under pressure to explain an apparent failure to check if convicted criminals released into the community have outstanding warrants, as police prepare to arrest another former immigration detainee for historic offences.

Victoria Police are expected to arrest a man who is wanted interstate on a return to jail warrant in the coming days, only weeks after the High Court ruled he could not be kept in immigration detention indefinitely.

This second case of a detainee released with outstanding orders for their arrest, has prompted calls for the federal government to reveal what checks were conducted on the cohort of 149 non-citizens set free so far.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has previously said if she had her way none of the detainees would have been allowed into the community.

It is understood the man in Victoria, who would be the seventh person in the released cohort to be arrested, has been complying with requirements including wearing an electronic ankle monitor.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil have not explained what checks were conducted on the 149 released detainees. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

It follows Queensland police last week arresting a former detainee, William Yekrop, in Brisbane after it was discovered there was an outstanding warrant for his return to prison in NSW.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said Labor must explain whether the “appropriate checks” were made before the detainees were released.

“The government just needs to be upfront with the Australian people,” he said.

Mr Dutton said Labor had been “lurching from crisis to crisis” since the High Court’s November 8 ruling that a stateless Rohingya man convicted of child sex offences who cannot be deported, known only as NZYQ, could not be held in immigration detention indefinitely.

Already six former detainees have been arrested since the NZYQ decision prompted their release.

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton was critical of the handling of the matter. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“How many more will there be?” Mr Dutton said.

“And how many were released when they shouldn’t have been?

“Were the appropriate checks made?”

Mr Dutton also criticised the government for refusing to say how many people it has sought to re-detain under new measures passed by parliament last week.

“The government needs to explain why it has failed to apply to the Court to have any of these hardened criminals re-detained,” he said.

An Albanese Government spokeswoman said they were “unable to comment on individual cases, nor speculate on ongoing operational matters”.

On Tuesday it was revealed Labor has formed a board made up of former cops and border force officials to go through the list of detainees and assess what measures should be imposed on them, including preventative detention, supervision orders or othervisa requirements.

The new Community Protection Board will provide “evidence-based recommendations” about how to manage the 149 former detainees.

The board, which met for the first time in Canberra on Monday, will advise Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles on how to strengthen community safety.

Former cops to monitor released immigration detainees

Former police officers, border force and home affairs officials have been recruited to assess the cohort of convicted criminals released from immigration detention and advise who should be locked back up.

The federal government has established a new Community Protection Board with a range of law enforcement experts to provide “evidence-based recommendations” about how to manage the now 149 former detainees released in the wake of last month’s High Court ruling against their indefinite detention.

The board, which met for the first time in Canberra on Monday, will advise Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram and the Immigration Minister Andrew Giles on how to strengthen community safety.

This will include individual assessments of “appropriate” measures, which may include preventative detention, community safety supervision orders, electronic monitoring devices and curfews, and stringent visa conditions.

In a statement confirming the formation of the board, Mr Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the government and relevant agencies would “continue to work constructively through these complex challenges and meet the legal obligations resulting from the High Court’s decision”.

Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram. Picture: Martin Ollman

Last week Labor passed legislation allowing the government to apply to the courts to detain, control and monitor non-citizens released from indefinite detention.

As the government prepares applications to have the court detain the highest risk offenders in the cohort, six men have already been arrested since walking free from immigration detention.

The cohort were released following the High Court’s November 8 ruling that a stateless Rohingya man convicted of child sex offences who cannot be deported, known only as NZYQ, could not be held indefinitely immigration detention after serving his prison sentence.

Since then, a 36-year-old Eritrean-born man was arrested after allegedly failing to comply with a curfew on December 8, the Australian Federal Police confirmed on Friday.

On Thursday a former Sudanese child soldier, William Yekrop, was picked up by police in Queensland after it was realised there was a warrant to return to jail for allegedly breaching his parole conditions prior to being placed in immigration detention in 2012.

There have been 149 people released from immigration detention since the High Court ruling. Picture: Jeremy Piper

The previous day Sudanese-born Abdelmoex Mohamed Elawad, 45, was arrested and charged by the Australian Federal Police after he allegedly breached curfew conditions of his Commonwealth visa on 1 December and also stole luggage from a traveller who was asleep in a Melbourne airport terminal.

Earlier last week 33-year-old Emran Dad, who was the former ringleader of a child exploitation gang, became the third criminal arrested since his release after allegedly breaching his reporting obligations and making contact with minors.

Prior to this sex predator, Afghan refugee Aliyawa Yawari, was remanded in custody on two charges related to his alleged indecent assault of a woman in Adelaide just weeks after the 65-year-old was released from Yongah Hill detention facility in Western Australia.

NSW police have also charged another released detainee, 45-year-old Mohammed Ali Nadari, for drug possession after he was allegedly found with cannabis.