A Rohingya refugee who overturned indefinite immigration detention in Australia's High Court has been granted a protection visa despite a conviction for raping a 10-year-old boy. The man, known only as NZYQ, was found to be owed protection due to a well-founded fear of persecution in Myanmar.
Court documents published on Tuesday reveal that the judge who sentenced NZYQ did not find he had shown remorse for the crime, despite his guilty plea. A psychologist noted 'risk factors' for possible reoffending, including 'attitudes supportive of sexual offending' stemming from his own childhood abuse.
NZYQ arrived in Australia by boat in September 2012 but had his bridging visa cancelled in January 2015 when he was charged with raping a 10-year-old boy. He pleaded guilty in January 2016 to one count of sexual intercourse with a person aged between 10 and 14, serving a non-parole period of three years and four months before being transferred to immigration detention in May 2018.
The Department of Home Affairs initially refused NZYQ a protection visa in July 2022, concluding he was a danger to the Australian community. However, the High Court ruled in November that indefinite immigration detention was unlawful, leading to his release and subsequent visa grant.
The department accepted that NZYQ's brother was tortured and killed by Myanmar authorities in 2016, and that his family home was destroyed, forcing his mother and siblings to flee to Bangladesh. The delegate found that NZYQ had a well-founded fear of persecution as a Rohingya Muslim.
