Half the detainees freed after High Court ruling have no monitors or curfews

Half of the detainees released after November’s landmark High Court ruling outlawing indefinite immigration detention do not have ankle bracelet monitors or curfews, according to data released on Friday just as the government fended off a separate challenge that would have freed an estimated 200 more detainees into the community.

In Melbourne, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles defended the board responsible for deciding if released detainees need ankle bracelets after the community summary revealed that only 76 of the 153 former detainees were wearing the monitoring devices and only 68 had curfews.

The Community Protection Board set up to advise the government on the released detainees is under fire, after it recommended that former detainee Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan, 43, did not need an ankle monitor — a month before he allegedly assaulted Perth grandmother Ninette Simons on April 16.

Speaking at a press conference in Melbourne on Friday, Giles defended the board and its decision-making.

“The Community Protection Board is a board composed of highly experienced law enforcement professionals … I have the utmost respect for them and their capacity to make decisions,” he said.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles on Friday.Credit: Wayne Taylor

Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan and shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash slammed the government for the lack of monitoring.

“There are seven murderers, there are 37 sex offenders, and these are hardened criminals. Now what we know is that less than half of those are being monitored,” Tehan said.

“What we’ve seen from the immigration minister today is further dereliction of duty because he will not front up and own these decisions.”

Earlier on Friday, the High Court dismissed the appeal of a bisexual Iranian man given the pseudonym ASF17, who was seeking release from immigration detention by claiming he was being unlawfully held.

The case was regarded as a legal sequel to last year’s landmark High Court ruling that outlawed indefinite detention, which resulted in 153 detainees being freed.

The appeal was an attempt to resolve whether someone who refuses to co-operate with moves to deport them to their country of origin can continue to be detained, if their own actions are preventing the government from removing them.

The High Court justices found that ASF17 had the capacity to co-operate with authorities and he could change his mind on refusing to co-operate at any point, meaning he was not in illegal indefinite detention, making it a complete win for the government.

”ASF17 could be removed to Iran if he co-operated in the process of obtaining the requisite travel documents from Iranian authorities. He has decided not to co-operate. He has the capacity to change his mind. He chooses not to do so,” the reasons stated.

The Commonwealth successfully argued the Iranian man’s ongoing detention was legal because the detainee could “bring it to an end at any time” by agreeing to meet Iranian authorities for the necessary paperwork to return to Iran.

The Iranian man’s barrister, Lisa De Ferrari, SC, told the High Court last month the government had never tried to resettle him anywhere else and that her client did not oppose being removed to a country other than Iran.

“Even take me to Gaza,” De Ferrari quoted her client as saying in evidence aired in a previous Federal Court hearing. “I have a better chance there of not being killed than if I go back to Iran.”

As a backstop, Giles introduced controversial legislation to parliament last month that threatens people with jail time if they resist deportation, enables him to revisit protection findings, and black bans entire nationalities if their countries don’t accept the involuntary return of citizens.

However, the bill is yet to pass parliament after the Senate deferred it to an inquiry, which led the Coalition to propose 17 amendments that will be negotiated by the government and opposition.

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