‘The human body can only take so much’: Back home in Australia, the remaining Bali Nine face their new normal | Bali nine

On Sunday afternoon, the Bishop of Townsville received an anonymous text message he had spent nearly two decades waiting for: “Reel up, Bali 5 is on its way back to Australia”.

Timothy Harris, who provided pastoral care to the families of Scott Rush and Michael Czugaj after their arrests in 2005, immediately called Scott’s father, Lee. A short time later they confirmed that a plane carrying his son had landed in the Northern Territory.

“Their lost son has come home,” Harris said.

“Obviously they are thrilled, but they know it will take a lot of effort to ensure that the next part of Scott’s life is handled with dignity and without a lot of fuss.

“Every day for the last 20 years has been a nightmare for them.”

Rush, Czugaj, Matthew Norman, Si-Yi Chen and Martin Stephens have returned to Australia after the Indonesian government agreed to commute the remainder of their life sentences for drug trafficking on humanitarian grounds.

A statement released on behalf of the five men and their families said they were “immensely grateful” to Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto, and his government, as well as successive Australian foreign ministers who had advocated for their release.

The statement said the five men were “relieved and happy” to be back in Australia and looked forward to “reintegrating back into and contributing to society”.

But Harris said it would be very difficult to join an Australian community they may no longer recognise.

“All sorts of things are going on in the Northern Territory at the moment, I know that much, to prepare them for what may come to them,” Harris said.

“Health becomes an issue. The human body can only take so much. Being confined like that for almost 20 years has taken its toll.”

The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, confirmed that the Australian Government would support their “rehabilitation and reintegration”. The five men have been placed in temporary housing.

“After 19 years in Indonesian prison, it was time for them to come home,” Albanese said Monday morning.

“I had the opportunity to speak to a number of the parents last night about these people. They are grateful that their sons have been able to return home.

“They committed a serious crime and they have rightly paid a serious price for it. But it was time for them to come home.”

Harris said some of the men had formed personal relationships in Indonesia that would be difficult to leave. Matthew Norman and Martin Stephens have both married while in prison.

The conditions of their repatriation state that they cannot return to Indonesia. It is not known whether their spouses will be issued visas.

“Some of the hearts will be back in Indonesia,” Harris said. “I’m sure there’s a bit of an (emotional) tug-of-war going on. There can be mixed feelings.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he had spoken to the prime minister about the repatriation and did not repeat earlier criticism of the deal by some opposition MPs.

“These people are not coming back as heroes to our country,” Dutton said. “They have not been in political captivity. They have been convicted under the laws that operate in that country for trying to import heroin.

“On a personal level and for their families, especially coming into Christmas, you can understand the excitement and relief they will have.”

Indonesia’s senior minister for legal affairs, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who struck the repatriation deal with Australia’s home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said the transfer was “reciprocal in nature”.

“If one day our government requests the transfer of Indonesian prisoners to Australia, the Australian government is also committed to considering it,” he said in a statement.

But on Monday morning, when asked if there were “anticipated repayment arrangements” as part of the deal with Indonesia, Albanese said “no”.

Bali Ni was charged and convicted of attempting to smuggle 8.3 kg of heroin out of Indonesia in April 2005.

The ringleaders of the drug-trafficking operation, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, were sentenced to death and executed by firing squad in Indonesia in 2015. Another member, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, died of cancer in 2018.

The only female member of the group, Renae Lawrence, had her sentence commuted in 2018 and was returned to Australia.