Coalition to deport refugees convicted of nearly any crime Refugees could be sent back to their countries or imprisoned indefinitely for committing most crimes in Australia under a Coalition government. This comes despite warnings by legal experts that the changes would be illegal under international law. The federal Coalition announced on Sunday that, if it was elected, foreigners convicted of crimes punishable by more than one year in jail would have their visas cancelled automatically, even if they were sentenced to less than a year's imprisonment. Such people - including refugees, asylum seekers and visitors - would lose their right to appeal except in "special circumstances." They would be detained until they could be deported and would not be allowed to return to Australia for 20 years, double the present period. This follows Bureau of Statistics figures in March that showed asylum seekers living in the community on bridging visas were about 45 times less likely to be charged with a crime than members of the general public. The proposed changes would significantly broaden the immigration minister's power to cancel the visa of people sentenced to more than one year in prison. Shadow immigration minister Scott Morrison said the minister would consider the circumstances of each case, but confirmed that, under the changes, refugees could be sent back to the countries they came from. The Refugee Convention allows signatory countries to deport refugees in limited circumstances, including those who present "compelling reasons of national security" and a "danger to the security of the country in which he is" or, having been convicted of "a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of that country." Mr Morrison said that foreigners could also be held in detention indefinitely in cases where it was not possible to deport them, citing examples of people who had been detained indefinitely despite having committed serious crimes in Australia. A senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, Daniel Webb, said it was unlawful to deport someone to a place where they were at risk of persecution. Liberty Victoria president Jane Dixon, SC, said the changes would include most Australian crimes, and raised concerns that the Coalition was guided by "maximum sentences rather than the context of what led to the offending." Poll: Should asylum seekers convicted of crimes be deported automatically from Australia? Total votes: 2137. Poll closes in 6 hours.