An Australian court has sentenced a Sudanese-born Australian citizen, Muhammad Ahmed, to four years in prison for leaving his wife in Sudan without her passport.

This landmark case, reported in Victoria, marks the first conviction of its kind under the charge of “exit smuggling,” a form of human trafficking where individuals are compelled or deceived into leaving a country against their will.

Three months after traveling to Sudan with his wife and two children, Ahmed stole his wife’s passport and identification documents before returning to Melbourne with the children.

Before this incident, Ahmed had secretly withdrawn his support for his wife’s visa, alleging that she had abused the children. During the court proceedings, Judge Frank emphasized that Ahmed’s actions were premeditated.

The court learned that it took his wife over a year to have her visa reinstated and return to Australia, after which she was reunited with her children.

The court highlighted that Ahmed’s actions constituted deception related to exit smuggling, as he continually assured his wife that she would return to Australia.

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Notably, after a 16-month struggle, the affected woman eventually returned to Australia, but Ahmed initially prevented her from seeing the children.

Following a legal battle, she was ultimately granted permission to reunite with them.