SAHNI ARTICLE 3.3.21 (WORD) (DO NOT DELETE) 134 Gonzaga Journal of International Law 5/6/2021 7:21 PM Vol. 24:2 country.207 He was detained as an unlawful non-citizen under s. 189 of the Migration Act 1958.208 The Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs dismissed al-Kateb’s application for a protection visa to reside in the community as a legal refugee.209 The Refugee Review Tribunal and then the Federal Court denied the appeal.210 As a result, Al-Kateb reevaluated his circumstances and sought an exit. “On 19 June 2002, the appellant himself indicated to the Department that he wished to leave Australia and to return to “Kuwait, and if you cannot please send me to Gaza”. He later, on 30 August 2002, signed a form addressed to the Minister stating “I wish voluntarily to depart Australia, and ask the Minister to remove me from Australia as soon as reasonably practicable”. Section 198(1) of the Act requires removal of such unlawful non-citizens “as soon as reasonably practicable”.”211 Australia endeavoured to deport al-Kateb to Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Syria and the Palestinian Territories, but the jurisdictions refused to accept the alien.212 It was unlikely in the foreseeable future and was not reasonably practicable213 that the Appellant would be released from the mandatory administrative detention enforced by sections 196 and 198.214 The issue became then whether the Migration Act 1958 could impose indefinite detention. Al-Kateb remained in custody meanwhile until 2003 when the Federal Court approved an interlocutory consent order to issue a bridging visa.215 He was permitted to live in Sydney on a temporary and conditional basis without the privileges to work or study or receive state benefits including healthcare.216 However, he returned to detention in 2004 when the High Court of Australia ruled that the Migrant Act imposed indefinite detention if it was not reasonably practical to deport a detainee or grant that person local residence rights.217 The High Court stressed that the clear and unambiguous text of the Act did not permit any other 207. 208. Al-Kateb v. Godwin (2004) 219 CLR ¶¶ 79, 82, & 272 (Austl.). Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 62 (Austl.) (Detention of unlawful non-citizens (3) If an officer knows or reasonably suspects that a person (other than a person referred to in subsection (3A)) in an excised offshore place is an unlawful non-citizen, the officer must detain the person). 209. Al-Kateb v. Godwin (2004) 219 CLR ¶¶ 2, 99, & 273-274 (Austl.). 210. Id. ¶ 100. 211. Id. ¶ 102. 212. Id. ¶¶ 2, 103. 213. Id. ¶¶ 11, 206. 214. Id. ¶¶ 1, 2, 34, 35. 215. Id. ¶¶ 107, 280. The term ‘bridging visa’ refers to a Removal Pending Bridging Visa. It is effective while the application for a substantive visa is assessed. 216. Id.; Escape from a life in limbo, supra note 204. 217. Al-Kateb v. Godwin (2004) 219 CLR ¶¶ 298, 303 (Austl.).