<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An attempt to extend the scope of a controversial High Court ruling on immigration detention has failed in the same court, drawing ire from refugee advocates.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two asylum seekers — from Poland and Vietnam — sought damages after claiming it was illegal for immigration authorities to detain them while their applications for protection visas were being processed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Both men were taken into detention after they served prison sentences for drug offences committed in Australia.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/kristian-white-clare-nowland-updates-family-speaks-after-kristian-white-avoids-jail/95beafd0-75cd-4508-8ad7-f6e8a1ad2f11" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Prosecutors to appeal Kristian White's sentence after great-grandmother's Taser death</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Administrative Appeals Tribunal found their criminal exploits exposed them to risk of significant harm if they were deported to their home countries.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It ruled the Polish man risked being imprisoned and subjected to harmful treatment if returned home, while the Vietnamese man could be sentenced to the death penalty.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The pair maintained the tribunal's decision meant they could not be removed from the country which meant their subsequent detention was unconstitutional.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/asylum-seekers-lose-illegal-detention-bid-in-high-court/ca279c95-ceca-4929-a8ea-51095a895882" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They relied on the 2023 landmark decision in the NZYQ case, which found indefinite immigration detention was illegal if there is no reasonable prospect of the person's removal from Australia in the foreseeable future.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, the High Court determined the ruling did not apply if the detention of an illegal non-citizen is limited to what is necessary for visa processing or deportation purposes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The judges found the men's detention was mandatory while their protection visas were being processed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/courts-western-australia-cassius-turvey-at-hospital-four-hours-before-doctor-treated-him/ad45c385-4382-498b-8222-efb79f7c8286" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Indigenous teen Cassius Turvey waited four hours at hospital ahead of death: court</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Asylum Seeker Resource Centre principal solicitor Catherine Holbeche said the High Court had failed to recognise "the human consequences of its decision" and its impact on present and past detainees.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"For people seeking asylum, the experience of prolonged detention replicates past trauma, deprivation of rights and liberty from which they fled," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The decision comes after increased scrutiny on Australia's immigration detention laws following the impactful NZYQ ruling, which led to the release of 150 immigration detainees with criminal records.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While some had serious criminal convictions, including for murder and rape, others faced less serious charges before being placed in immigration detention.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A number were arrested for allegedly reoffending after their release, sparking fierce public and political backlash.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Polish and Vietnamese men were not among the freed cohort, but they were released in 2024.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.</span></strong></div></div>