Australia proposes law to allow prison time for high-risk migrants who breach visa conditions

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — High-risk migrants in Australia will face up to five years in prison for breaching their visa conditions under emergency legislation introduced in response to a High Court ruling that migrants can't be detained indefinitely.

The government said it has released 83 foreigners — most of whom have convictions for crimes including murder and rape — since the court ruled last week that indefinite detention of migrants is unconstitutional.

The decision reversed a High Court ruling from 2004 that had allowed stateless people to be held in migrant centres for any length of time in cases where there were no prospects of deporting them from Australia.

The legislation introduced in Parliament by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles would let the government order certain migrants to wear electronic tracking bracelets and to comply with curfews.

Failure to comply with those visa conditions could be a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison.

The released migrants include “certain individuals with serious criminal histories,” Giles told Parliament.

“These measures are consistent with the legitimate objective of community safety, and the rights and interests of the public, especially vulnerable members of the public,” Giles said.

Human rights lawyers argued that the measures could be challenged in court as punitive and excessive.

“Any new conditions must meet some basic tests. They must be necessary, they must be reasonable, proportionate, they must not be punitive or deprive people unnecessarily of their liberty,” David Manne, a lawyer who represents several of the released migrants, told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

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