The Solomon Islands government says it has taken steps to prevent the country's Australian police chief from returning to the Pacific nation.
In a statement tonight, Solomons Immigration Minister Patteson Oti said he had declared Shane Castles an "undesirable immigrant".
"The Solomon Islands government firmly believes Mr Castles' return and continued presence here is considered prejudicial to the peace, defence, public safety, public morality, security and good governance of the Solomon Islands," Mr Oti said in the statement, released through Brisbane law firm Henshaw and Associates.
Mr Oti said the declaration had been gazetted and all immigration, customs, quarantine, civil aviation and border control authorities had been notified, effectively preventing Mr Castles from re-entering the Solomons.
Mr Castles is on leave in Australia.
The decision is set to escalate a diplomatic row between Australia and the Solomon Islands following the Julian Moti affair.
Mr Moti, an Australian lawyer appointed but later suspended as the Solomon Islands attorney-general, is wanted by the Australian Federal Police for alleged child sex offences dismissed by a court in Vanuatu in 1997.
Mr Castles was present in October when police raided the office of Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, as officers sought evidence relating to the escape of Mr Moti from Papua New Guinea and his illegal entry into the Solomons.
Canberra has consistently rejected offers from the Solomons to return Moti to Australia, because of attached conditions.
Tonight's statement from the Solomon Islands government did not give any reasons for the decision to bar Mr Castles from returning to the troubled archipelago.
Mr Sogavare has indicated he wants to remove Mr Castles and has previously threatened to kick him out of the country, accusing him of political bias towards Australia.
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