Operation Fortitude cancelled after public backlash over visa checks
A planned joint street task-force operation that would have seen Australian Border Force (ABF) officers seek out potential visa abusers in Melbourne has been cancelled following public outcry.
Outraged protesters shut down a major thoroughfare outside Flinders St Station this afternoon, which prompted the cancellation of a planned press conference and then the entire weekend operation.
The measure, dubbed Operation Fortitude, would have seen ABF personnel join Victoria Police and state transport network officers in patrolling the streets on Friday and Saturday to improve ‘commuter safety’. ABF's involvement was in part to inspect the visas of those referred to them by police.
Victoria Police in an embarrassing backdown issued a statement shortly after the cancelled 2pm press conference advising that it would not go ahead with the operation.
"We understand there has been a high level of community interest and concern which has been taken into consideration when making this decision," the statement read. "Victoria Police's priority is the safety and wellbeing of the whole community and we will continue to work with our partner agencies to achieve this."
The protest followed heavy criticism on social media that denounced suggestions visa checks would be conducted at random and therefore leave room for racial profiling.
“The confusion is you don’t have to have your paper visa on you. We can check people’s immigration status electronically,” an ABF spokeswoman said.
“We’ll be referred people that Victoria Police might think we need to look at from a immigration point of view so that’s the way it works.”
A Victoria Police statement issued at the time of the Operation Fortitude announcement read that the project would “target everything from anti-social behaviour to outstanding warrants”.
When Yahoo!7 asked authorities to clarify how visa checks would be conducted, and by what criteria, it was told that the only difference in normal protocol would be that ABF officers would be available to police on the streets and not via a telephone hotline, effectively fastening the process.
