Australia gov’t seeks opposition support on immigration detention legislation

The Australian government on Wednesday urged the opposition to support legislation that would allow authorities to lock up former immigration detainees who were released after a landmark ruling by the country’s top court.
The High Court of Australia ruled last month that an unnamed and stateless Rohingya man held in immigration detention after serving time for child sexual offences was being unlawfully detained as no country had agreed to resettle him so there was no real prospect he could be deported.
The ruling led to the release of roughly 150 others, among them refugees and stateless people, who were similarly unlikely to be deported and faced indefinite detention. Some had served time for violent offences.
The verdict overturned an court ruling from about 20 years ago that said indefinite immigration detention was lawful as long as the government intended to remove the person from Australia eventually.