An Afghan immigrant who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl on a Melbourne bus soon after arriving in Australia has had his visa cancellation overturned.
Mohammad Mohammadi, 28, a Shia Muslim of Hazara ethnicity, was convicted of sexual assault in 2018, spared jail, given a 18-month community corrections order – which he violated – and put on the sex offenders register, and in August this year had his visa cancelled on character grounds.
But on Thursday the Administrative Review Tribunal of Australia restored his visa, taking into account the fact that his entire intergenerational family has moved to Australia except for his sister, and that he would face a “distinct and real risk” of harm if he was forced to return to Afghanistan.
The tribunal heard that Mohammadi’s father entered Australia illegally by boat in 2010, but was eventually granted a protection visa and has since been given Australian citizenship.
Mohammadi then came to Australia at age 20 in August 2017 on a Partner Visa with his mother and two brothers, all three of whom have also gained Australian citizenship.
On February 17 the following year, at age 21, he sexually assaulted the girl after sitting next to her on a bus at Hampton Park, and his victim then broke her wrist after falling over while running away from him in terror through Fountain Gate Shopping Centre.
The tribunal noted that Mohammadi, who needed an interpreter while giving evidence, “went so far as to say that he had heard when he was in Pakistan that in some way one could ‘make friends with girls’ or that there was a more relaxed attitude towards male interaction with women, as if to justify or excuse his behaviour on the bus on that day”.
But the tribunal also took into account the impact Mohammadi’s offending had on his family, and stated they had “faced significant adversity and tribulations over many years”.
“His father embarked upon a very risky endeavour travelling more than halfway around the world, which ultimately enabled him to permanently settle in Australia and bring his broader family to this country. They live under the one roof, clearly love one another and have a very tight bond,” the tribunal stated.
Mohammadi also argued that “the prospect of his removal from Australia, not to mention the legal processes, both criminal and the visa process, that have now gone on for many years, have caused pain, distress and discomfort to both his mother and father”.
His older brother gave evidence that Mohammadi’s deportation would be like losing his “right hand”, and that the pair intended to start a roof tiling business. The tribunal also found he had “worked hard and contributed to his broader family unit”.
“In more recent years, he has had regular employment as a roof tiler, an occupation that he seems to enjoy, and one in which he works with people of Afghan origin, particularly Hazaras,” the tribunal stated.
The tribunal further found that Mohammadi had a close relationship with his young nieces, and that the bonds within their “extended family unit” would be closer than in conventional nuclear families, and decided to place “significant weight” on the relationship.
Finally, the tribunal decided that if returned to Afghanistan, Mohammadi would face a “real risk of persecution” as an ethnic Hazara, a further prospect of being targeted by the Taliban because he may be perceived as being “Westernised”, would not have access to treatment for his “Major Depressive Disorder”.
“Clearly, [Mohammadi] would face major obstacles to re-establishing himself were he to return to Afghanistan. Apart from the fact that he has no remaining family in Afghanistan and no social network, his significant mental health problems would not be treated, and more probably than not, would be exacerbated by such a return,” the tribunal stated in deciding to restore the visa.
Header image: Mohammadi in CCTV footage released by police after the assault (Victoria Police).
