Labor Green Loons VOTE People :Iraqi bigamist Younus Taher Jaaz Al Saadi broke all the rules

Two wives, but only one law: Iraqi bigamist Younus Taher Jaaz Al Saadi broke all the rules

Ben McClellan and Alicia Wood
The Daily Telegraph
February 14,2014 

AN Iraqi bigamist duped a Sydney woman into marriage to get an Australian visa — then flew to Iraq a month later to marry a second wife, a tribunal has found.

Samira Asswad, a western Sydney grandmother, married Younus Taher Jaaz Al Saadi, 38 in December 2008, after meeting him through neighbours.

After Mr Al Saadi applied for and received a spousal visa in July 2009, he left almost immediately for Iraq when he married a second wife, Nihal Al-Sharmati and had a child with her.

When Ms Al-Sharmati applied for an Australian visa as Mr Al Saadi’s wife, the Department of Immigration notified the Migration Review Tribunal who cancelled his visa.

Mr Al Saadi argued he should be allowed to stay because having two wives was part of his culture.

During their three-year marriage, Mr Al Saadi stayed at Ms Asswad’s townhouse for only a few months in total, telling her he had to constantly return to Iraq for five to six months at a time for “work”.

The tribunal found that Mr Al Saadi separated from Ms Asswad three weeks after he was granted a permanent visa, and divorced her in August 2012.

In the same month he was granted a permanent visa as Ms Asswad’s spouse, his other wife, Ms Al- ­Shamarti, was giving birth to his son.

“I bring him to Australia for me,” Ms Asswad said. “When he get the permanent visa straight away he went from this house.”

The tribunal ruled that Mr Al Saadi’s actions “show deliberate and significant disregard for Australia’s immigration laws”.

“The definition of the ‘spouse’ in the migration legislation is quite unambiguous and requires an exclusive relationship.”

NSW Minister for Women Pru Goward said the case was a reminder of the implications of not abiding by the law.

“Many people want to come to Australia to enjoy our great way of life, and what everybody needs to understand that firstly, we have a strong commitment to the rights of girls and women, and secondly that there is only one law people have to abide by and that’s Australian law,” Ms Goward said.