In an interview with Khalil, a stateless man in his mid-30s from the Middle East who is suffering from the immigration policy in Australia, the misbehavior and discrimination against non-Australian and immigrants was revealed.
Khalil has spent nearly a decade in immigration detention and his criminal history only includes disorderly behavior and traffic offences. With the charges in effect cancelling his humanitarian visa, he was jailed for several years then transferred to various immigration detention centers including Melbourne, Perth and Christmas Island.
He showed video footage taken by other inmates of security guards putting him in a headlock and throwing him to the ground as an example of his ill-treatment. He also recounted losing several friends to self-harm and suicide from the mental toll of being locked up without any hope of their cases being resolved. “I’ve spent years in incarceration, five of them just waiting to be deported … and now it’s embarrassing to be wearing an ankle monitor under my pants the whole time”, he said.
Although the high court’s decision prompted the federal government to release detainees, it required all newly released immigration detainees to wear an ankle bracelet 24 hours a day and to be in their homes between 10pm and 6am daily. The detachable charger operating the monitor needs to be charged for about 90 minutes twice a day.
Like fellow released detainees, Khalil is on a bridging R (removal pending) visa, meaning he can be re-detained and deported at any point if a safe country accepts him. Visa conditions also include notifying home affairs if he changes his social media profiles or usernames within two working days. “So if I want to cough, I have to ask them to please let me cough,” he said. “I feel my hands are tied and I’m being controlled. They have released us but are not trusting us to be able to continue our lives and to be in the community.”
The government of Australia penalizes non-citizens more restrictively than Australian citizens who have served their jail sentences and are released into the community, without any restrictions in most cases.