Australia Transports Criminal To Serbia

It has to happen some day. An Australian Permanent Resident since he was two, and who never set foot in Serbia has been deported to Serbia after a series of criminal convictions.

The man, a drug addict, had been jailed for drug-related burglary several times, and the Minister of Immigration has stripped Robert Jovicic of his permanent residency. The Department of Immigration had sent him to Serbia, because they figured Serbia would let him stay there as his parents were born in Serbia. Serbian authorities, after examining his papers, decided that he wasn't entitled to stay. Mr Jovicic is officially stateless.

Unable to speak the language and having run out of money, he has been sleeping at the Australian Embassy's gates.

For the past two cold winter nights in Belgrade, Mr Jovicic has camped outside the Australian embassy in a desperate attempt to be returned to Melbourne.

Brrrr...

A lawyer said on the radio that there is basis for Mr Jovicic to be able to reside in Australia. If I remember correctly, the lawyer argued he is substantially an Australian, having integrated into Australian society and way of life [sic]. If the court accepts this argument, then we are looking down at the barrel of another compensation case for wrongful deportation.