{"id":29181,"date":"2016-10-19T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2016-10-18T19:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=29181"},"modified":"2016-10-18T10:30:01","modified_gmt":"2016-10-17T23:30:01","slug":"10-things-need-know-passport-cancellations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/10-things-need-know-passport-cancellations\/","title":{"rendered":"10 things you need to know about passport cancellations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Image<\/p>\n

Passport cancellations are one of the few tangible and public measures of how Australia’s going in the fight against terrorism. ASIO made the latest number of passport cancellations public last week, when it tabled its Annual Report to Parliament<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The report states that 62 Australian passports were cancelled over the past 12 months to prevent Australians from travelling overseas to engage in terrorism. That figure is down one third from a peak of 93 cancellations last year\u2014which coincided with the rise of the so-called \u2018Islamic State\u2019 or Daesh and its call for foreign fighters\u2014and is back to the 2013-14 level, when 45 passports were cancelled. Numbers haven’t yet dropped down to pre-Daesh single-digit levels.<\/p>\n

So while Daesh and other Islamist groups are still attracting foreign fighters, the numbers seeking to travel have waned with the fortunes of those groups. The ASIO report tells us that the decline in cancellations is because fewer Australians are seeking to travel to fight in the Middle East. But there\u2019s still a relatively high number of cases, demanding a lot from Australia\u2019s counterterrorism resources.<\/p>\n

Passport cancellations remain a complex and sometimes confusing issue. One of the most prominent cases is Oliver Bridgeman, whose passport was cancelled<\/a> in February while he was in Syria, soon followed by the issue of a warrant for his arrest<\/a>. After six months silence\u2014including speculation he’d been killed\u2014Bridgeman\u2019s lawyer says he’s alive<\/a> and still overseas.<\/p>\n

Bridgeman and his family say it\u2019s all a misunderstanding<\/a>: he\u2019s just a healthy, happy, young surfer and school-leaver working for a children\u2019s charity in Syria, and the government\u2019s actions have left him stranded in a war zone.<\/p>\n

Bridgeman provides a useful case study on Australia\u2019s passport cancellations, how and why these can be used, and what happens after.<\/p>\n

So here are 10 things you need to know about passport cancellation.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Only the Minister for Foreign Affairs can find someone ineligible to hold an Australian passport.<\/em><\/strong> Cancelling a passport is a big deal\u2014as befits an action to deprive an individual of freedom of movement\u2014and is out of the hands of individual government agencies and appointments.<\/li>\n
  2. The recommendation must come from a \u2018<\/em><\/strong>competent authority<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u2019\u2014<\/em><\/strong> a government entity with appropriate expertise to make the judgement behind the recommendation. In the case of Bridgeman and many others whose passports have been cancelled on terrorism grounds, the judgement was in the form of an ASIO security assessment<\/a> made by ASIO\u2019s Director-General.<\/li>\n
  3. The security assessment is the overall judgement.<\/em> <\/strong>The Bridgeman family\u2019s lawyer has challenged the information in the security assessment<\/a>. But the advice to Bridgeman isn\u2019t required to include all the supporting detail\u2014including classified information\u2014used to make the assessment or the Minister\u2019s decision. That has sometimes proven contentious and has been subject to review and legal judgement\u2014including in the High Court<\/a>\u2014but found to be appropriate.<\/li>\n
  4. The cancellation can be based on anticipated future behaviour.<\/em><\/strong> A passport cancellation may be preventative. The test in the Australian Passports Act 2005<\/em><\/a> is \u2018suspects on reasonable grounds\u2019 that the person would be \u2018likely to engage in conduct\u2019 contrary to security, or might breach Australian law. That’s different from a criminal charge, since no crime need be committed. In addition to protecting Australia\u2019s interests, this measure also helps uphold Australia\u2019s international obligations<\/a>, such as not exporting terrorism.<\/li>\n
  5. Until recently, security-related passport cancellations were rare.<\/em> <\/strong>The conflict in Syria has attracted a higher proportion of Australians per capita than any other country. Before Syria, passport cancellations were few<\/a>: seven in 2011-12 and 18 in 2012-13, according to ASIO. In August, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Counter-Terrorism Michael Keenan said there had been more than 180<\/a> since the Syrian conflict began\u2014including around 50 offshore like Bridgeman\u2014with more every week<\/a>. \u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
  6. It can be appealed.<\/em> <\/strong>Bridgeman\u2019s family have lodged an appeal<\/a> to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a merits review. A request could also be made to the Federal Court (and High Court of Australia) for judicial review of the decision.<\/li>\n
  7. Government authorities are constrained in talking about individual cases due to privacy, legal process and protecting classified information.<\/em><\/strong> With the appeal process underway through the AAT, along with the separate criminal case, it\u2019s unlikely that authorities will provide commentary outside the legal process.<\/li>\n
  8. Citizens retain a right of return<\/em>. <\/strong>That\u2019s possible without a passport. In Bridgeman\u2019s case, he could return to Australia under a temporary travel document. But having travelled to a conflict zone\u2014and possibly into a declared area<\/a>\u2014there are security and safety issues at play should he attempt to leave or for any Australian consular staff to contact him.<\/li>\n
  9. Arrest warrants are different and have their own high threshold.<\/em> <\/strong>An arrest warrant results from evidence acquired through criminal investigation. To have an arrest warrant issued, the AFP must have a brief of evidence that\u2019s deemed sufficient to lay criminal charges by both the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the issuing magistrate. Should Bridgeman return to Australia and face prosecution<\/a>, we would then have the opportunity to see this play out in court.<\/li>\n
  10. It doesn\u2019t necessarily remove the threat.<\/em><\/strong> Passport cancellations appear to be an effective inhibitor of terrorism. For those remaining in Australia, in particular, community and professional support may assist a move away from violent extremism. But being denied the ability to leave Australia on their own passport might also encourage a want-to-be foreign fighter to use someone else\u2019s passport, as with Khaled Sharrouf<\/a>, or refocus their activities back to Australia, as may be the case with Numan Haider<\/a>. Earlier this year ASIO advised that around 200 Australians<\/a> were actively supporting Islamic State from home.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In the Bridgeman case, we know that ASIO and the AFP have investigated his actions and associations and consider that they separately meet the threshold for passport cancellation and arrest on terrorism grounds. The Foreign Minister, the DPP and a magistrate agree. All of that remains subject to due process, and the protection of rights under the law. And that makes all such decisions tricky\u2014the application of the law is relatively straightforward when a crime is committed, but anticipatory and protective measures have a different threshold and host of complicating factors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Passport cancellations are one of the few tangible and public measures of how Australia’s going in the fight against terrorism. ASIO made the latest number of passport cancellations public last week, when it tabled its …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":408,"featured_media":29182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1031,1410,273,89],"class_list":["post-29181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-asio","tag-border-security","tag-counterterrorism","tag-dfat"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n10 things you need to know about passport cancellations | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/10-things-need-know-passport-cancellations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 things you need to know about passport cancellations | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Passport cancellations are one of the few tangible and public measures of how Australia’s going in the fight against terrorism. 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