Fed: Govt accused of treating Kosovars atrociously

AAP General News (Australia)
08-23-2000
Fed: Govt accused of treating Kosovars atrociously

By Debra Way

CANBERRA, Aug 23 AAP - The federal government was today accused of treating 12 Kosovar
refugees atrociously by sending them back to their war-ravaged homeland against their
will.

The Kosovars, who were brought to Australia last year at the height of hostilities
in the Balkans, were deported from Western Australia's Port Hedland detention centre on
a charter flight last night.

They had been in detention since refusing to return home voluntarily when their temporary
visas ran out, many on the grounds that they feared for their lives.

Marion Le, of the Independent Council for Refugee Advocacy, said she was worried about
their welfare.

"My understanding is there's an elderly couple who are in very poor health who have
no family to return in Kosovo," she said.

"And there's also a woman there who was transferred from Villawood (in Sydney) with
... a very, very sick child who wakes in the night screaming, `please help me, please
help me' and having the most terrible nightmares."

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said all the refugees had had their
cases examined.

Those deported did not meet the criteria to stay and there were no compelling reasons
preventing their travel, he said.

But opposition immigration spokesman Con Sciacca said the deportations were the culmination
of the government's atrocious treatment of the Kosovars.

"I am very disappointed that this minister has taken such a tough line with the Kosovars,"

Mr Sciacca said.

"These people were brought here as our guests.

"This is the culmination of the atrocious way this government has treated these Kosovars
and it will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of most Australians."

Australian Democrats immigration spokesman Andrew Bartlett accused Mr Ruddock of
going overboard on the government's treatment of refugees.

"Last night's deportation of some of the last Kosovo refugees is another sad event
in the litany of Australia's poor treatment of refugees," Senator Bartlett said.

Between 15-20 Kosovars remain at large in the community after fleeing attempts to return
them home, while about the same number are still in detention.

More than 300 remain legally in Australia after Mr Ruddock allowed them to apply for
refugee status, or to stay here on temporary visas because they are suffering from post
traumatic stress disorder.

Meanwhile, the Uniting Church said it was mounting a last-ditch attempt to prevent
the deportation of three Somali asylum seekers, claiming they would be tortured or killed
in Somalia.

Senator Bartlett said Australia had an obligation as a signatory to the Convention
Against Torture not to return people to a place where they faced a real risk of being
tortured or killed.

Mr Ruddock's spokesman said the men had put their claims for refugee status forward
several times to both the immigration department and Refugee Review Tribunal.

"They have been found not to be refugees," he said.

AAP daw/cd

KEYWORD: KOSOVO AUST NIGHTLEAD

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