ASIO called Raneem’s uncle a threat. The family’s fighting to find out why

The first person from Gaza to challenge his cancelled Australian visa in court has been refused information about why he was knocked back on security grounds, and is now stuck in Cairo without recourse.

Hosni Imad is one of a small group of Palestinians to have their visa cancelled by ASIO after the Albanese government granted almost 3000 tourist visas to help people with strong connections in Australia flee the conflict in Gaza.

The 45-year-old painter had already fled to Cairo, and his wife and child had arrived in Sydney two months earlier, when authorities told him in early March that his visa was cancelled because of an adverse security assessment, which found he was likely to promote or facilitate political violence in Australia.

Imad claimed to have no idea why agencies had come to that conclusion, months after his visa was issued in November. He launched legal action in the federal court to compel ASIO to produce its reasons, arguing he was denied procedural fairness because he was never interviewed by security officials nor provided an opportunity to respond to the case against him.

But that was rejected this week, when the court upheld ASIO’s claim to keep its documents secret on public interest grounds, meaning the agency’s reasoning would not be disclosed to Imad. His lawyers will appeal the decision, injecting the case into an ongoing political debate over whether the government took appropriate steps when it issued visitor visas to Palestinians fleeing war.

Raneem Emad, Imad’s Australian-born niece, said the saga was taking an emotional toll on the family in Australia, particularly his wife and young daughter who witnessed massacres in Gaza and were now traumatised by being separated from him and not knowing what would happen.

Raneem Emad’s Palestinian uncle had his visa cancelled by ASIO after it concluded he could pose a threat to national security.Credit: Louise Kennerley

“It’s a very ugly limbo situation where he’s stuck in Cairo with no income, no stable residence, no family or friends, nothing,” she said. “He’s still suffering, having his siblings in Gaza, while not being able to make sure his wife and child are safe or heal together after the suffering.”

The opposition has waged a fierce campaign against letting any people from Gaza into Australia based on its concern there have been insufficient security checks, while Labor sought to avoid the debate, other than to state it had faith in official processes.

Documents released to the Senate last week revealed all Palestinian visa holders have been referred to ASIO, although indicated this was not happening on a routine basis before mid-March. As of April 9, there had been 13 visas cancelled on security grounds and 24 cancelled over non-genuine criteria, all offshore.

Imad’s visa cancellation, in early March, came around the same time that several other Palestinians had theirs cancelled while en route to Australia. Some were later reinstated.

His family’s visa applications were not referred to ASIO before they were granted in November 2023, according to ASIO’s affidavit, obtained by this masthead.

Imad’s wife and child arrived in Australia on January 1, and his wife told ASIO in an interview later that month that “she and Mr Imad had never had any engagement with Hamas and that her and her family were peaceful and did not like war”.

ASIO did not appear to take issue with Imad’s visa until February, according to the timeline of documents listed in the affidavit. It recommended his visa be cancelled in early March.

According to 20 documents made partially available through the court case – Another 102 documents were not disclosed – security officials said they had not identified any reporting that suggested Imad was travelling to Australia to engage in activities that would prejudice security.

However, ASIO’s assessment said “he would likely promote or facilitate acts of [politically motivated violence] in Australia”.

The agency also said it reasonably suspected Imad had active associations with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad affiliated individuals and therefore “might be, directly or indirectly, a risk to security”.

Dushan Nikolic, the lawyer representing Imad, said his client contested those claims.

“We are trying to get some information on what those associations are alleged to have been,” he said. “The rest of his family were allowed to enter. If we’re talking about associations, logically, it doesn’t really seem to flow that immediate and extended members of the family could be here but one person has been identified as a threat.”

ASIO outlined several reasons it would not give Imad the opportunity to respond to its assessment: the officials could not travel to an active conflict zone to visit him, and they could not conduct a remote interview or send written security questions because they would not be able to control the environment.

Questioning him would also prolong the assessment, meaning the visa cancellation could expire. “Even absent the practical difficulties, only a very limited amount of the adverse information on which ASIO’s suspicions are based could have been put to Mr Imad without prejudicing national security,” ASIO documents said.

The court upheld the security agency’s reasoning, even as it acknowledged “the personal circumstances of the applicant are dire”.

“I am satisfied that the [ASIO] Director-General’s claims for public interest immunity, in the interests of national security, must prevail when weighed against the applicant’s private rights,” wrote Justice Helen Rofe, noting that officials had extensive experience in counter-terrorism and intelligence gathering.

Rofe also refused the lawyers’ request to evaluate the documents herself, without disclosing them to Imad.

His lawyers had acknowledged the national security concerns about releasing documents, but said they should be balanced with the requirements for natural justice. They said ASIO’s public interest immunity claim meant it could cancel visas without ever being accountable to any courts.is

They said that Imad faced long-term separation from his family, a likely future as a stateless person, and the probability of being returned to Gaza.

His niece, Raneem Emad, said her parents in Australia had started the visa process for family members to bring peace of mind. “But what we got is this whole different type of struggle,” she said.

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