Australians are being urged to report any suspicions about human trafficking occurring after a Victorian man allegedly tried to cancel his spouse's visa after getting her to go away the nation.
The 50-year-old Victorian man is the primary within the state to face court docket for the offence, referred to as exit trafficking, however the Australian Federal Police (AFP) mentioned the crime is more and more coming to detectives' consideration.
The person allegedly deceived his spouse into travelling to Sudan earlier than he tried to cancel her visa to verify she couldn't get again into Australia.
The alleged incident occurred in 2014, however AFP officers solely charged the person with organising or facilitating the exit of one other individual from Australia by deception, which has a most penalty of 12 years' jail, on February 27, 2022.
The person was on account of face Melbourne Magistrates Courtroom in the present day.
AFP Appearing Commander Ray Imbriano mentioned exit trafficking, which may contain an individual coercing, forcing or threatening one other to go away Australia towards their will, typically went unreported in Australia.
"Exit trafficking is just not typically mentioned, and even thought of to be a problem in Australian society, nevertheless it does occur right here," he mentioned.
"Nobody has the correct to 'cancel' one other individual's visa, together with the visa sponsor. This sort of behaviour is a Commonwealth offence and carries a possible 12-year jail time period."
Appearing Commander Imbriano mentioned victims might be terrified of reporting the crimes however the AFP labored exhausting to help victims, with a devoted help program particularly obtainable for victims of the crime.
He has referred to as for individuals to report any suspicions that human trafficking is happening.
"With out the group's assist, it is very troublesome for our investigators to take acceptable motion and assist victims," he mentioned.
"We're asking the group to study the indicators and indicators of human trafficking and make contact with the AFP if they've any considerations."
Should you or somebody you understand is a sufferer of human trafficking, contact the AFP on 131 237.