‘He has to take his chances’: the resettlement of a refugee in Australia and his deportation to the country he had fled, 1980–1992

Drawing on previously unexamined archival records, this article explores the Australian government’s attempts to deport a Cuban national who had been resettled in Australia as a refugee in 1980, in 1987 was sentenced to two years in prison on assault charges, and in 1991 was left stranded at Singapore Airport because Cuba refused to facilitate his repatriation. Before the Singaporean government enforced his return to Australia, Parliament passed the Migration Amendment Bill 1991, which had been amended specifically to ensure his indefinite detention upon his arrival. Highlighting the government’s determination to proceed with the deportation, the article explores the political and legal circumstances of the case, and discusses it in light of recent changes to the Migration Act.