ABU DHABI // Australia’s justice minister visited officials in the UAE last week to strengthen Australia’s police presence in the light of the crises in Syria and Iraq.
Michael Keenan said Australia and the UAE had also shared information in law enforcement and disaster management.
“We have significantly increased our police presence here,” he said.
“The Australian Federal Police (AFP) was one officer here and now it’s four, which is quite a significant posting for the AFP overseas.
“Because the UAE is such an international crossroads now, that brings with it enormous opportunities but there is always a downside to that which criminals will try and take advantage of,” said Mr Keenan.
“We want to make sure that if any of those criminals have links to Australia, that that law-enforcement relationship is strong so we can arrest and imprison them as appropriate.”
The country is investing almost Dh2 billion in law enforcement and intelligence agencies to address the issue.
“We have a small but significant number of citizens who were chosen to go and participate in those conflicts in Iraq and Syria, and we think that’s a very significant national threat for us,” he said.
“I was keen to get a sense about whether there is a similar problem in the UAE and how the government is addressing that.”
He said Australia was making sure agencies had the powers they needed to deal with people returning to the country and potentially posing a threat to its national security.
The UAE and Australia have two judicial and law-enforcement cooperation treaties between them.
They include a 2011 extradition treaty that allows each country to extradite anyone wanted for prosecution in the other.
“I was keen to move forward on an agreement that we’re trying to negotiate about an international exchange of prisoners,” said Mr Keenan.
He met with UAE Justice Minister Dr Hadef Al Dhaheri, Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, and the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority.
cmalek@thenational.ae