Foreign Criminals in Australia being handed their visas back
Hundreds of foreigners who had their visas cancelled after committing serious crimes are being spared deportation by national security officials, with the government facing questions over how a drug trafficker was allowed to remain in Australia despite spending nearly a decade in prison and offshore detention.
Amid a heated political clash between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten over border integrity, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can reveal criminals are using an opaque process to have their mandatory visa cancellations overturned by Department of Home Affairs officials, the minister or assistant minister.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton last week cited the need to secure Australia's borders from criminals as a reason for the government's opposition to the refugee medical treatment bill that passed Parliament.
In one case expected to be raised in Parliament this week, William Sualauvi Betham was granted freedom and is now enjoying life on the Gold Coast despite being jailed for more than 10 years in 2008 over his role in a drug trafficking syndicate.
Betham's visa was cancelled by the government in June 2016 but his appeal was still under way at the time of his release on parole in October that year. He was transferred to the Christmas Island immigration detention centre ahead of potential deportation to his home state of New Zealand.
But Betham was later handed back his visa and released in 2017 after arguing to bureaucrats that he had a low risk of reoffending, had undergone rehabilitation and had a child in Australia whose mother was unable to provide appropriate care.
However, a man who claims to have been a fellow detainee of Betham on Christmas Island has alleged Betham bragged to him about having connections enabling him to secure the return of his visa.
The man, who remains in detention while fighting his own visa cancellation in the courts, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that Betham asked him about his own case and said there was "no point wasting money on lawyers".
He [Betham] said, 'if you want to get out, get back to your family, organise $80,000 and transfer it into an account, I have a good connection … and you will be out in a matter of months'," the man alleged.
Betham's lawyer Jennifer Samuta said she was not aware of any information that her client had made that claim to fellow detainees.
"We are not aware of Mr Betham bribing any official that may be in a position to make or impact a visa-related decision in his favour," she said.
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https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/hundreds-of-foreign-criminals-are-being-handed-back-their-cancelled-visas-20190215-p50xzu.html