Headache for Anthony Albanese as refugee advocates try to stop laws requiring released prisoners to be closely monitored in the community – on behalf of an asylum seeker with multiple criminal convictions

A refugee is taking the government to the Supreme Court, claiming that the laws governing the precipitous supervision of detainees are punitive, disproportionate and violate basic human rights.

In November, the government rushed through legislation in an effort to control and track about 140 detainees, who were released after the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that indefinite immigration detention was unlawful.

For the rest of their lives, they will be subject to a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day and must wear ankle monitors 24 hours a day.

While some had been convicted of serious crimes such as child abuse and murder, others had been charged with traffic violations, and all had served their entire sentences before being placed in indefinite immigration detention.

One of those freed was RVJB, a refugee who arrived in Australia with his family at the age of 13 after escaping violence in Sudan. He faced several convictions in the legal system before being locked up in the Christmas Island Immigration Detention Center for seven years.

The 30-year-old has not committed a single offense in eight years, but is also subject to the same strict visa conditions, which have had a huge impact on his life.

“I was doing really well until they turned on the monitor, adjusted the conditions and took me from the house with no answers,” he said.

“It shattered everything.”

RVJB’s attorneys, represented by the Asylum Seeker Resource Center, will argue that the new laws are unconstitutional and infringe on his freedom, bodily integrity, privacy and dignity.

Lead attorney at ASRC Hannah Dickinson says the laws are causing a lot of fear and could impact people’s health and ability to safely reintegrate into the community.

“Everyone should be treated equally before the law,” she said.

“Constitutional limits on government power are essential in a democratic society because they prevent people from being punished at will.”

Australians who have committed and served the same crimes as these immigrants are generally released into the community without such punitive conditions, leading Greens and activists to accuse the government of creating a two-tiered system that discriminates based on citizenship.

RVJB says he recognizes that he made mistakes as a young man while fleeing trauma, and that he has worked hard to change himself and make something of his life.

But the new laws do not allow him to continue.

“I’m still in custody even though I’m not in detention,” he said.

‘I can’t sleep with nightmares, I’m being eaten from the inside.

‘I just want to be treated as a human being. I want to be with my son. I want to work. I want to live without fear and shame.’