Australian Migration Laws under Attack by Human Rights Commissioner

Australia has been asked by the Human Rights Commissioner to pay $500,000 in compensation and issue an apology to a Chinese man who has been held in immigration detention since his release from prison in 2006.

The government has been accused of holding the man in arbitrary detention with no future plan for him. The man was convicted of two counts of murder in 1992 and served a 20 year gaol sentence in Australia. Upon being released from prison, he was placed in immigration detention as his visa was refused on account of the character test. He cannot be sent back to China as there is a real risk of him being prosecuted again for his past crimes and executed under Chinese laws.

Australia is indeed dealing with a very complex immigration issue and the pressure from the Human Rights Commissioner accentuates the complexity. On the one hand, having been convicted for two counts of murder, it is unfathomable that the man would meet the character test but on the other hand, Australian international obligations would be breached if he were to be returned to a country where he would face death.

To read more, please see the full SMH article here.

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