A Palestinian man has launched legal action against the Australian government after having his visa revoked on security grounds.
Hosni Imad, 45, and his family are among more than 2,500 Palestinians from Gaza who have been granted Australian visitor visas by the Labor government, but in March he had his cancelled after the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) concluded he was “directly or indirectly, a risk to security”.
Imad, whose wife, daughter and mother have all been granted protection visas since arriving in Australia earlier this year and whose brother is an Australian citizen, challenged the cancellation in the Federal Court, and demanding that ASIO reveal the reasons behind the assessment and arguing he was denied procedural fairness.
His lawyers claimed that he is now stranded in Cairo with “no right to reside or work or any means of providing for himself”, and that he faces long-term family separation and a likely future of a stateless person.
ASIO is refusing to reveal details of its security assessment on public interest immunity grounds, with ASIO Deputy Director-General of Security Michael Noyes saying in a statement provided to court that there were “significant national security implications” if the related documents were exposed.
Redacted documents seen by The Australian show that Imad was referred to ASIO for a complex assessment in February, and state that there is an “unacceptable risk Mr Imad would promote or facilitate acts of PMV (Politically Motivated Violence) in Australia”.
ASIO also said it reasonably suspected Imad had active associations with individuals affiliated to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Mr Noyes provided another confidential statement to Justice Helen Rofe in a locked “read and return” bag before a hearing in August, and after reading both statements Ms Rofe said ASIO’s public interest immunity claims were “not baseless or lightly made”, and upheld ASIO’s claim.
Imad’s lawyers say they will appeal the decision, which comes after it was revealed that a record number of Palestinians are filing asylum claims.
Of the approximately 3,000 Palestinians granted visas by the Albanese government, 1,300 have made it to Australia, and as many as 70% of those could now have filed for asylum, with 915 applications made since January.
Shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan told Sky News on Thursday he believed the figure would rise to 90% in coming months.
But no Palestinian applications have been approved or rejected since June, and Immigration Minister Tony Burke is yet to confirm details of a promised “special pathway” allowing those fleeing Gaza permanent residency and special benefits.
Senior government sources revealed last month that Mr Burke was planning to create a new visa category allowing Palestinians to stay permanently, work and access Medicare.
Mr Burke is being targeted by Muslim voting blocs in his heavily Islamic western Sydney electorate of Watson, which is 25.1% Muslim and just 45% Australian-born, due to anger over Labor’s handling of the Gaza conflict.
Header image: The Rafah Border Crossing where Imad and his family left Gaza. Image by Al Jazeera English – Road to Gaza 060, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link (cropped)
