Former Iraqi detainee latest to be charged by AFP

The 40-year-old Iraqi-born man, one of the 149 former detainees released following the High Court’s ruling in November, will appear in a Sydney court today.

Convicted sex offender and former detainee Emran Dad was arrested in Melbourne after allegedly engaging in “sexually charged” online chats with a 15-year-old girl on TikTok. Charges against many other detainees are unknown.

An Iraqi-born man is the latest former detainee to be charged for allegedly failing to comply with his visa mandated reporting conditions.

Nahi Al Sharify is due to appear at the Downing Centre Local Court on Monday, accused of breaching conditions of his Commonwealth visa by failing to report as directed.

The Australian Federal Police released a statement saying they had arrested and charged the 40-year-old Al Sharify after he surrendered to police in Sydney.

“The man has been charged with failing to comply with a requirement of the monitoring condition, contrary to section 76B(1) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth),” the statement reads.

“This offence carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment and a $93,900 fine.”

Al Sharify is one of the 149 former detainees released following the High Court’s ruling in November that immigration detention was unlawful in the case of NZYQ, a stateless Rohingya man whom no country wanted to resettle after he was convicted of raping a 10-year-old boy.

‘Cover-up secrecy’ reigns on detainee offences

Federal authorities and state police have directed questions about alleged fresh crimes of former immigration detainees to each other, concealing from the public the nature and extent of ­offending since the High Court’s “NZYQ” ruling.

Secrecy surrounding the criminal charges is under fire from the federal opposition after the Home Affairs Department last week said at least 18 of the 149 former detainees had been charged with state and territory offences since their release.

Seven of the former detainees have been charged with Migration Act offences for breaching curfew provisions as part of their release.

“Since the High Court decision, there has been a lack of transparency about what is a serious public safety issue,” opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan said. “The Albanese Labor gov­ernment has restricted information to cover up the magnitude of the mess they have made.”

The Australian Border Force was asked by The Australian on Tuesday, February 13, to provide details about the former detainees’ state offences.

A Home Affairs Department spokeswoman responded to the questions on Friday, declining to comment on individuals “due to privacy obligations”.

Home Affairs directed questions about state and territory offences to those jurisdictions.

Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan has condemned secrecy surrounding new charges against former detainees. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

The Australian Federal Police has committed to being transparent about commonwealth charges involving visa curfew breaches for which the AFP is responsible, and has released details of those offences. However, it has not provided details on state and territory criminal charges.

NSW and Victorian police have confirmed only a limited number of state criminal charges, while Queensland police on Sunday ­directed questions about state charges to the ABF.

Mr Tehan said the government had “promised to run a transparent government before the last election … the Coalition is calling on the Immigration Minister to do the right thing and be upfront with the Australian people.

“He needs to regularly publish the number of criminals Labor has released from detention, what crimes they have committed, how many are not being monitored and any data relevant to public safety.”

The governments No.1 priority is keeping the community safe, says Immigration Minister Andrew Giles. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said the “government’s No. 1 priority has been and will always be keeping the Australian community safe”.

“Following the decision of the High Court, we immediately stood up Operation Aegis, to bring government, law enforcement and security agencies from around the nation together,” he said.

“We’ve set up the Community Protection Board to ensure management of this cohort is based on expert advice and we’ve invested a quarter of a billion dollars to arm agencies and law enforcement with the tools they need to enforce our laws. If Peter Dutton and the Liberals don’t have faith in our law enforcement and security agencies, they should … admit it.”

The High Court ruled in Nov­ember that indefinite immigration detention was unlawful in the case of NZYQ, a stateless Rohingya man whom no country wanted to resettle after he was convicted of raping a 10-year-old boy.

Former detainees released since the decision include seven individuals convicted of murder or attempted murder, 37 sex offenders including pedophiles, and another 72 individuals convicted of assault and violent offending, kidnapping or armed robbery.

Home Affairs says 60 of the former detainees are living in NSW, 40 in Victoria, 20 in Queensland, 20 in Western Australia, fewer than 10 in South Australia and fewer than five in the ACT.

Those known to have been charged since their release include child-sex offender Emran Dad, who was arrested in Melbourne after allegedly engaging in “sexually charged” online chats with a 15-year-old girl on TikTok.

Aliyawar Yawari holding a picture of himself taken prior to being placed in detention. Picture: 7 News

Aliyawar Yawari, 65, was charged with indecently assaulting a woman at a motel in ­Adelaide two weeks after being released.