Indian Man Deported from Australia Over Child Exploitation Content on Phone

An Indian man was deported from Australia shortly after his arrival in the country after child exploitation material was found on his mobile phone. The man, who was not identified, landed in Perth on a Temporary Skilled Graduate visa last week, and was sent back on June 25, perthnow.com.au reported.

The 30-year-old Indian man arrived in Australia on board a flight from Singapore. He was stopped at the Perth airport by Border Force officers for a baggage check. The officials inspected his three mobile phones, one of which was found to contain objectionable material related to child exploitation, the report said. The man’s phone was confiscated and his visa was cancelled. He was detained and held at the Perth Immigration Detention Centre before being deported from the country.

The man’s removal reflected the absolute commitment of the Australian Border Force (ABF) to prevent the importation of such prohibited material, Mark Wilson, the Acting ABF Regional Commander for Western Australia, said in a statement. “Visitors to Australia engaging in this behavior risk forfeiting their right to be here,” he added.

“We also work closely with our law enforcement partners both here and abroad to share information relating to these persons to ensure we are protecting not only Australian children, but potential victims offshore,” Wilson said, according to the report.

Wilson added that the border force would follow up with relevant authorities in Singapore, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

ABF officials are authorized to ask travellers for their phones or laptops to conduct a search.

The ABF’s powers are “relatively broad,” Zaahir Edries, the president of the Muslim Legal Network of New South Wales, Australia, was quoted as saying by ABC News in an earlier report. “Anything you have on your phone, as a passenger, is open to scrutiny or interrogation by ABF officials,” Edries added.

Airport authorities also have the right to seize devices and copy their contents. After examining an item, Border Force officers may copy a document where they are satisfied that the document may contain information relevant to prohibited goods, an offence against the Customs Act or a prescribed Act, or to certain security matters. A “document” includes information stored on mobile phones, SIM cards, laptops, personal electronic recording apparatus and computers, according to information on the Australian Department of Home Affairs website.

The ABF officers may question travelers and inspect items upon suspicion of breach of immigration, customs, biosecurity, health and national security laws by a person. “For example, objectionable goods, such as child exploitation material, are prohibited from importation into Australia,” the ABC News report had cited ABF as saying. “Our officers are alert to the indicators that persons may be seeking to travel with this abhorrent material both in and out of Australia.”