Victorian man tricks wife to leave Australia, jailed for exit trafficking

A 52-year-old man became the first Victorian to be convicted of exit trafficking after he allegedly tricked his wife into travelling to Sudan after holding back her passport and children.

When a person gets threatened, tricked or manipulated to leave Australia without their will, it's called exit trafficking.

The man has been sentenced to 4.5 years in prison.

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The man had pleaded not guilty of the charges and leaving his wife abandoned in Sudan for 16 months.

In his ruling, Judge Frank Gucciardo said the man's offending “required a degree of planning," The Guardian reported.

"You treated her as a chattel that could be simply discarded. She was grief-stricken and traumatised by the departure of her children with you,"the judge saidto the man while convicting him.

The accused man must serve at least three years and three months in jail to be eligible for parole.

During the hearing on Tuesday (Nov 12), the judge said the man "intentionally misled" his wife to believe she had a valid visa to return to Australia when they travelled to Sudan in 2014.

“What you had not told her was, in June 2014, you had withdrawn the visa and her application for a visa would be under threat,” the judge said, according to The Guardian.

The man travelled with his wife saying it was for a holiday but later, he flew to Sudan with their 2 children without informing her.

The judge further said that the woman would not have left Sudan if she had any clue about her visa status.

The court also highlighted the "aggressive factor" in the offending, depriving the children (Both under 2) of their mother.

He further added that the “abrupt separation” from her children had caused the woman “immense physical pain and agony”.

(With inputs from agencies)