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Crimmigration in Australia pp 173–195Cite as

Crimmigration-Counterterrorism in the War on Foreign Terrorist Fighters

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Abstract

This chapter examines two of the most controversial aspects of the Australian Government’s suite of foreign terrorist fighter laws, introduced in 2014–2015. First, the declared area offence criminalises mere entry into and presence within a declared ‘no-go zone’ within a foreign country. Second, the Allegiance to Australia Act enables the revocation of Australian citizenship from dual nationals on national security grounds. In some respects these laws are emblematic of Juliet Stumpf’s crimmigration thesis, merging core elements of immigration law and criminal law. However, in other respects these measures signal an innovative deployment of immigration law tactics to address perceived weaknesses in the criminal justice system; in this sense they represent what we might, albeit inelegantly, call the ‘immigrationisation’ of counterterrorism law. Analysis of the declared area offence and citizenship stripping provisions focuses on how each case study reflects the crimmigration merger, the justifications underpinning the laws, and the dangers they present. This reveals the political, prosecutorial and symbolic attractions of a crimmigration-counterterrorism approach for governments, but also questions the national security value of these schemes and underscores the serious costs of this approach for the rule of law and human rights.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Nicholson 2015.

  2. 2.

    Stumpf 2006.

  3. 3.

    Macklin 2014, p. 51.

  4. 4.

    Stumpf 2016, p. 385.

  5. 5.

    Ibid. p. 385.

  6. 6.

    Ibid. p. 382.

  7. 7.

    Ibid. p. 384.

  8. 8.

    Zedner 2016, pp. 225–226.

  9. 9.

    Hu 2017, pp. 956–957.

  10. 10.

    Williams 2013; Ananian-Welsh and Williams 2014.

  11. 11.

    For discussion of these policies, see Billings and Stevens 2017, pp. 95–105.

  12. 12.

    Blackbourn et al. 2018, p. 5, citing Barrett 2014, p. 6 and US Department of State 2016. See also, Zedner 2016, p. 223.

  13. 13.

    Cook and Vale 2018, p. 3.

  14. 14.

    ASIO Annual Report 2016–2017, p. 20.

  15. 15.

    Ibid.

  16. 16.

    Blackbourn et al. 2018, p. 32.

  17. 17.

    Ibid. p. 90.

  18. 18.

    Olding et al. 2017.

  19. 19.

    Welch and Dredge 2017.

  20. 20.

    Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) Div 105A.

  21. 21.

    Ibid. s 104.4(c).

  22. 22.

    Blackbourn et al. 2018, pp. 90–91.

  23. 23.

    Ibid p. 16.

  24. 24.

    Ibid pp. 16-17.

  25. 25.

    Williams 2013, p. 7. By mid-2017, Pillai and Williams estimate a further five Acts had been enacted: Pillai and Williams 2017, p. 875.

  26. 26.

    Roach 2011, p. 309.

  27. 27.

    Williams 2011, pp. 1146–1153, 2013, pp. 7–10.

  28. 28.

    Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) s 3UEA.

  29. 29.

    Provided that the Attorney-General is satisfied that the organisation ‘is directly or indirectly engaged in, preparing, planning, assisting in or fostering the doing of a terrorist act’ or ‘advocates the doing of a terrorist act’ (discussed further below): Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) s 102.1(2)(a)–(b).

  30. 30.

    Ibid. Div 105.

  31. 31.

    Ibid. Div 104.

  32. 32.

    Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 (Cth), Part III Div 3.

  33. 33.

    Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) s 101.1.

  34. 34.

    Ibid. s 101.6.

  35. 35.

    Ibid. s 102.7.

  36. 36.

    Ibid. Div 103.

  37. 37.

    Ibid. s 80.2C.

  38. 38.

    Ibid. s 102.4.

  39. 39.

    Ibid. Div 102.

  40. 40.

    Ananian-Welsh and Williams 2014, pp. 365–368.

  41. 41.

    Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) s 100.1(2).

  42. 42.

    Ibid. s 100.1(3).

  43. 43.

    Australian Government: Listed Terrorist Organisations.

  44. 44.

    ‘Engage in a hostile activity’ is defined in s 117.1 of the Code to include conduct with the intention of: overthrowing a foreign government by force or violence, intimidating the public or a section of the public of a foreign country, causing harm to a public official or head of state of a foreign country, unlawfully damaging foreign government property, or engaging in a terrorist act.

  45. 45.

    Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) s 119.1. As is the case with most prosecutions for terrorism offences, it is the preparatory offence that has most frequently supported prosecutions: Lynch et al. 2015, pp. 83-85. See eg: R v Alqudsi [2016] NSWSC 1227 (1 September 2016).

  46. 46.

    Australian Passports Act 2005 (Cth) s 22A.

  47. 47.

    Ibid. s 24A.

  48. 48.

    Foreign Passports (Law Enforcement and Security) Act 2005 (Cth) ss 15A, 16A.

  49. 49.

    Australian Passports Act 2005 (Cth) s 24A.; Foreign Passports (Law Enforcement and Security) Act 2005 (Cth) s 16A.

  50. 50.

    Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) s 119.2.

  51. 51.

    Ibid. s 119.3(2A)

  52. 52.

    Ibid. s 119.3(1).

  53. 53.

    Ibid. s 119.3(4).

  54. 54.

    Ibid. s 119.3(5).

  55. 55.

    Ibid. s 119.2(3).

  56. 56.

    Ibid. s 119.2(4)–(5).

  57. 57.

    Ibid. s 119.2(3)(h).

  58. 58.

    Hardy and Williams 2014, p. 69.

  59. 59.

    Criminal Code (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment – Declared Areas) Declaration 2014 – Al-Raqqa Province, Syria (Cth)

  60. 60.

    Criminal Code (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment—Declared Areas) Declaration 2015—Mosul District, Ninewa Province, Iraq (Cth)

  61. 61.

    Criminal Code (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment—Declared Areas) Declaration 2018—Mosul District, Ninewa Province, Iraq (Cth)

  62. 62.

    Australian Federal Police and NSW Police Force 2017.

  63. 63.

    Yosufzai 2017.

  64. 64.

    PJCIS 2018, pp. 19, 21.

  65. 65.

    Blackbourn et al. 2018, p. 14.

  66. 66.

    The extradition request was rejected by Turkish courts in mid-2018, before the decision was made to prosecute Prakash under Turkish law: Rubinsztein-Dunlop 2018. The Australian government has not confirmed whether a further extradition request exists: Wroe 2019a.

  67. 67.

    Wroe 2019b.

  68. 68.

    This stamp was removed in 2011, though that did not translate into the lifting of travel limits to Iraq: Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs 2011.

  69. 69.

    Federal Register 2017.

  70. 70.

    Hardy and Williams 2014, p. 69.

  71. 71.

    PJCIS 2018, pp. 21–22.

  72. 72.

    Hardy and Williams 2014, p. 69. See also: PJCIS 2018, pp. 21–23.

  73. 73.

    PJCIS 2018, p. 20.

  74. 74.

    Ibid. pp. 20–21.

  75. 75.

    Walker 2014, p. 31.

  76. 76.

    Blackbourn et al. 2018, p. 19.

  77. 77.

    Australian Federal Police 2014, quoted in Walker 2014, pp. 33–34.

  78. 78.

    Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) s 104.4.

  79. 79.

    Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) s 34(1)(b)(i).

  80. 80.

    Ibid. s 35(1).

  81. 81.

    Pillai and Williams 2017, p. 872.

  82. 82.

    Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) s 33AA(2).

  83. 83.

    Ibid. s 33AA(3)(a).

  84. 84.

    Ibid. s 33AA(3)(b)(i).

  85. 85.

    Ibid. s 33AA(3)(b)(ii).

  86. 86.

    Ibid. s 33AA(3).

  87. 87.

    Ibid. s 35(4).

  88. 88.

    Ibid. s 33AA(12); 35(12)

  89. 89.

    Ibid. s 33AA (10); 35(10)

  90. 90.

    Ibid. s 35A(1)(a)-(c).

  91. 91.

    Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Act 2015 (Cth) s 8(4).

  92. 92.

    Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) s 35A(1)(d)-(e).

  93. 93.

    Ibid. ss 33AA(5), 35(5), 35A(5).

  94. 94.

    Ibid. ss 33AA(7), 35(7), 35A(7).

  95. 95.

    Blackbourn et al. 2018, p. 80.

  96. 96.

    Dutton 2019.

  97. 97.

    Norman and Gribbin 2017.

  98. 98.

    Mitchell 2018.

  99. 99.

    Ibid.

  100. 100.

    Dutton 2019.

  101. 101.

    Frydenberg 2019.

  102. 102.

    Wroe 2019a.

  103. 103.

    Ibid

  104. 104.

    Stumpf 2006, pp. 382–3; Macklin 2014.

  105. 105.

    Macklin 2014, p. 2.

  106. 106.

    Ibid. p. 2.

  107. 107.

    Pillai and Williams 2017, p. 876.

  108. 108.

    Brandis 2015, p. 9938.

  109. 109.

    Ibid. p. 9938.

  110. 110.

    Zedner 2016, p. 240.

  111. 111.

    Blackbourn et al. 2018, p. 80.

  112. 112.

    Ibid. p. 80.

  113. 113.

    Australian Citizenship Amendment (Strengthening the Citizenship Loss Provisions) Bill 2018 (Cth) cl 1, introducing s 35A(1B).

  114. 114.

    Ibid. cl 1, introducing s 35A(1)(b).

  115. 115.

    Blackbourn et al. 2018, p. 81.

  116. 116.

    Pillai and Williams 2017, p. 876.

  117. 117.

    Ibid. p. 876.

  118. 118.

    Irving 2017.

  119. 119.

    Pillai and Williams 2017, p. 874; Blackbourn et al. 2018, p. 80.

  120. 120.

    Blackbourn et al. 2018, p. 80

  121. 121.

    Pillai and Williams 2017, p. 874.

  122. 122.

    Blackbourn et al. 2018, pp. 79–80.

  123. 123.

    Ibid. p. 80.

  124. 124.

    Pillai 2016, p. 75.

  125. 125.

    Ibid.

  126. 126.

    Zedner 2016, pp. 226–227.

  127. 127.

    Ibid p. 241.

  128. 128.

    Ibid pp. 230–231, 236–241.

  129. 129.

    See e.g. Kesby 2012.

  130. 130.

    See e.g. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Art. 4.

  131. 131.

    Annan 2005.

References

Case Law

International Agreements

  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, opened for signature 16 December 1966, 999 UNTS 171 (entered into force 23 March 1976)

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Legislation

  • Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth)

    Google Scholar 

  • Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Act 2015 (Cth)

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  • Australian Citizenship Amendment (Strengthening the Citizenship Loss Provisions) Bill 2018 (Cth)

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  • Australian Passports Act 2005 (Cth)

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  • Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 (Cth)

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  • Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)

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  • Criminal Code (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment – Declared Areas) Declaration 2014 – Al-Raqqa Province, Syria (Cth)

    Google Scholar 

  • Criminal Code (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment—Declared Areas) Declaration 2015—Mosul District, Ninewa Province, Iraq (Cth)

    Google Scholar 

  • Criminal Code (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment—Declared Areas) Declaration 2018—Mosul District, Ninewa Province, Iraq (Cth)

    Google Scholar 

  • Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth)

    Google Scholar 

  • Foreign Passports (Law Enforcement and Security) Act 2005 (Cth)

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Secondary Sources

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Rebecca Ananian-Welsh

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Correspondence to Rebecca Ananian-Welsh .

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  1. TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Peter Billings

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Ananian-Welsh, R. (2019). Crimmigration-Counterterrorism in the War on Foreign Terrorist Fighters. In: Billings, P. (eds) Crimmigration in Australia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9093-7_8

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