Australia proposes new laws to detain potentially dangerous migrants who can’t be deported

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government on Wednesday proposed new laws that would place behind bars some of the 141 migrants who have been set free in the three weeks since the High Court ruled their indefinite detention was unconstitutional.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said Parliament would not end sittings for the year as scheduled next week unless new laws were enacted to allow potentially dangerous migrants to be detained.

“We are moving quickly to implement a preventive detention regime,” O'Neil told Parliament.

In 2021, the High Court upheld a law that can keep extremists in prison for three years after they have served their sentences if they continue to pose a danger.

O'Neil said the government intended to extend the preventative detention concept beyond terrorism to crimes including paedophilia's.

“What we will do is build the toughest and most robust regime that we can because our sole focus here is protecting the Australian community,” O'Neil said.

O'Neil said she would prefer that all 141 had remained in prison-like migrant detention. She declined to say how many would be detained again under the proposed laws.

Human rights lawyers argue the government is imposing greater punishment on criminals simply because they are not Australian citizens.

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