Ned Kelly Emeralds seeks freedom after 11 years of detention following High Court ruling

Ned Kelly Emeralds, an Iranian man who has been detained for over a decade while seeking asylum, will be in the Federal Court of Australia for a hearing to challenge his ongoing detention. Ned’s hearing will be the first following the High Court’s ruling that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful. 

Ned Kelly Emeralds arrived in Australia by boat in 2013 and has been detained since that time. In 2021, the Federal Court ruled that Ned was to be placed in ‘home detention’ in Perth, in the home of his close friends, until the Commonwealth resolved his status. At the last minute, former Minister Karen Andrews exercised her personal powers to prevent him from being removed from Australia or housed with his friends.  

Two weeks ago, in the landmark case of NZYQ, the High Court ruled that it is unlawful and unconstitutional for the Australian Government to detain people indefinitely in immigration detention. So far, around 100 people have been released from indefinite immigration detention. 

Ned was detained while his Protection visa application was processed; he has not had a visa cancelled, nor been sentenced for a crime.  Like many others, Ned’s case highlights the Australian Government’s deliberate punitive attempts to put people’s lives on hold because of their visa status. 

Ned is represented by the Human Rights Law Centre.   

Ned Kelly Emeralds said: 

“I came to Australia from Iran in 2013 and I have been detained for over a decade while seeking protection. I have been punished for seeking safety in Australia. Over the past ten years, I have asked to be let free – either in the community, or in any country of the world other than Iran, where my life is at risk. But the government has forgotten about me – it seems they are happy for me to be detained for the rest of my life. Like every human being, I deserve my freedom.” 

Sanmati Verma, Managing Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said:   

“This is what indefinite detention means – the power to take away a decade of someone’s life, maybe more, and to forget about them. Our government should not have the power to punish people simply because they do not have a visa. Freedom is basic to who we are – it should not be so easily taken away.” 

Background  

In 2021, the Federal Court found that, because of the date of his arrival, Ned should have been taken to a Regional Processing Country. Instead, he was shipped around different detention centres in Australia while his Protection visa application was processed.   

In 2016, Ned was found to be owed protection by an officer of the Department of Home Affairs. But, instead of issuing him with a visa, a second officer refused his application in 2018. For three years after that, Ned was left to navigate the broken “fast track” protection process while still in immigration detention.  

In 2021, the Federal Court ordered that Ned be released from Perth detention centre and transferred to the home of friends in Perth, until his immigration status was resolved. But then Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews exercised her personal powers to prevent Ned’s removal to a Regional Processing Country, as a result of which the Court’s orders could not come into effect. 

Media contact:
Thomas Feng, Media and Communications Manager, 0431 285 275, thomas.feng@hrlc.org.au