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Bureaucratic tussle continues over Kosovar family
The Sopjani family is
about to enter its fifth day of detention in a Hobart motel.
The
family of four remains locked inside two rooms while their lawyer and
Immigration Department officials argue over their case.
The
department insists it will expedite residency applications as long as the
family returns to Kosovo.
However, Mr Sopjani fears he will not be
able to meet other criteria required by the department, such as accredited
diploma level qualifications and a set level of English.
The
family's lawyer Eugene Alexander says the Sopjanis will not return under
these conditions.
He says the group is waiting now for the
department's response.
"I have left it with the Immigration
Department to come up with a policy guideline and from that point of view
I am going to just wait and see what they come up with," he
said.
"The ball is in their court. They can very easily change it
if they want to."
Premier Jim Bacon has appealed for commonsense to
prevail.
"Because of the state government taking up the issue as we
have with Minister Ruddock, he has agreed to waive some of the
requirements on the Sopjani and Akif Lutfia," he said.
"We are just
saying `now look, it is madness to send them back, then to have an
application, reconsider it [and] then to bring them back out
here'.
"Let's have commonsense. Consider the application whilst
they are here and let's put this issue to bed."
Govt offers
help
Meanwhile, the Federal Government is trying to convince
the remaining Kosovo Albanians at Bandiana in north-east Victoria to
return home by offering them more assistance to come back to Australia
afterwards.
The 146 remaining former refugees will receive
increased access to a humanitarian resettlement program where they can
apply to resettle in Australia as refugees.
But the applications to
return can only be made from Kosovo.
A spokesman for the refugees
says those who have agreed in principle to return have done so to avoid
going to Australian detention centres.
The Immigration Department
says it is planning to move the group from Bandiana barracks tomorrow or
Sunday.
The multicultural resource centre is organising a
candlelight vigil at Bandiana this evening in support of the Kosovar
Albanians.
Prime Minister John Howard has been accused of playing
"wedge politics" by blocking attempts by Kosovar Albanians to remain in
Australia.
Tasmanian Premier Jim Bacon says Australia risks
becoming an international pariah by forcing the Kosovars to return
home.
He says he is surprised Mr Ruddock has not used his
discretion to allow the Kosovar Albanians to stay in Australia.
He
says he suspects Mr Howard is overseeing moves to deport the Kosovars, as
he has on recent Aboriginal issues such as the Stolen Generations, because
he believes it is popular with the electorate, even though it is not in
the country's best interest.
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 © 2000 Australian Broadcasting
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