To Stay Here, Apply To Be A Serb
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday February 6, 2007
ROBERT JOVICIC has been told he must apply for Serbian citizenship if he wants to continue living in Australia - his home for nearly 40 years until he was deported because of his criminal record.
The Immigration Minister, Kevin Andrews, yesterday set Mr Jovicic a deadline of two weeks to apply for citizenship to Serbia, the country he left as a two-year-old, or face being detained again. However, he assured him that if he complied and "should Mr Jovicic be granted Serbian citizenship, he will not be considered for removal unless he is found guilty of committing further criminal offences". This would be the equivalent of a good-behaviour bond, he said of the offer, which is an attempt to break the stalemate over Mr Jovicic's statelessness.Mr Jovicic, 42, was brought back to Australia nearly a year ago on compassionate grounds after being deported to Serbia and saying he had been left destitute and stateless. Although he had lived in Australia most of his life, the former immigration minister, Senator Amanda Vanstone, cancelled his residency visa on character grounds after he was convicted of a string of heroin-fuelled crimes. Mr Jovicic's initial reaction yesterday was to maintain his refusal to apply for Serbian citizenship. A spokesman said he was "gutted" by Mr Andrews's decision. The Greens' spokeswoman on immigration, Senator Kerry Nettle, accused the Government of continuing to "bully" Mr Jovicic into applying for citizenship of a country "he neither knows nor wishes to go to ... The minister should grant Mr Jovicic a permanent visa and allow him to get on with his life."
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald