Tribunal rejects violent South Sudanese man’s visa plea

A violent South Sudanese man who moved to Australia when he was 10 has lost his bid to have his visa reinstated.

Since December 2014, it has been mandatory for non-citizens sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment to be stripped of their visa.

A South Sudanese man who moved to Australia when he was 10 and went on to commit serious and violent offences as a juvenile and adult, including assaults on his partner and stepdaughter, has lost his bid to have his visa reinstated.

The 24-year-old pleaded to stay in Australia after the visa was cancelled, saying he would have no prospects if deported and feared for his safety.

“I cant (sic) go back to Sudan it’s too dangerous and scary and I fear for my life going back there please let me stay,” he wrote in a letter to the Home Affairs Department after his visa was cancelled.

Identified as KLKN in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, he was born in South Sudan and moved to Uganda when he was three with his aunt, uncle and older brother.

He moved to Australia on a humanitarian visa with the same family members in 2004, settling in Western Australia.

Between 2011 and 2017, he committed 12 offences as a juvenile, starting with aggravated robbery, and 22 offences as an adult.

A delegate for Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton cancelled his visa under Migration Act character provisions last January.

At the time, he was serving a two-year jail sentence for assault and breaching a violence restraining order.

Since December 2014, it has been mandatory for non-citizens sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment to be stripped of their visa.

Police and court records show he had repeatedly breached restraining orders.

Once, he grabbed his de facto partner by her throat. Another time, he threw her to the ground and punched her in the head. After police left, he slapped her and kicked her in the stomach.

When her 13-year-old daughter came to her aid, he pushed her head into the kitchen workshop and dragged her through the house by her hair and clothes.

At a bus stop as a 17-year-old he bashed someone to the ground and stomped on and kicked the victim’s head.

He asked the department to revoke his visa cancellation, but it refused.

AAT senior member Michelle Evans on December 14 ruled that in all the circumstances, including the likelihood of reoffending, risk of harm to Australians and community expectations, the decision should stand.