Stateless man
Here's an interesting story. Robert Jovicic was born to Serbian parents whilst in France, 38 years ago. When he was two, his family moved to Australia.
He's a heroin addict who committed a series of robberies (described as burglaries in this report) in Australia. His visa was cancelled and he was deported from Australia to Serbia in June 2004. The Serbian government has declined to recognise him as a citizen, so he has no right to work or obtain welfare in Serbia. He is reportedly maintaining a vigil outside the Australian embassy in Belgrade - where it is snowing, by the way - presumably seeking the opportunity to return to Australia.
According to the Seven report, a statement from Senator Amanda Vanstone (the current Immigration minister, though she did not hold that portfolio when Jovicic's visa was cancelled - that was Phillip Ruddock) said that Jovicic was convicted of 'various charges of burglary, theft, possessing stolen property and possessing prohibited substances between 1984 and 2002'. Also according to that statement, Jovicic did apply for Australian citizenship in 1998, but was declined on character grounds (i.e. because of his criminal record). Jovicic's father resides in Serbia, and Vanstone states that Jovicic is eligible to apply for Serbian citizenship, but that (as of the date of the statement) he had not.
Mr Jovicic has clearly screwed his life up. All his crimes may well stem from a need to feed his heroin addiction, and they all appear to be crimes of property and drug possession, rather than violence. This would be both tragic and reprehensible in anyone, but in his own case he was - perhaps unwittingly at first - unaware that he was peculiarly vulnerable to the consequences of criminal activity. His family seem not to have assisted him in obtaining citizenship in Australia, although he lived here from the age of two - sixteen years by the time he became an adult. His convictions date from 1984 - when he would have been 17 years old - and as a heroin addict and burglar it's safe to say that even if he had been aware as a young adult of the potential consequences of his behaviour, he might well have continued on this path anyway. He applied for, and was denied, Australian citizenship in 1998 - when he would have been 31 - but by this time he had too many, or too serious, criminal convictions to pass the requirements applied by DIMIA. It seems likely that at this point it was inevitable that he would have his visa cancelled and that he would be deported.
It's not unreasonable that character standards should be applied to persons who wish to visit, or to become citizens of, Australia - that is, where possible, prospective visitors and citizens should not be convicted felons. But Mr Jovicic is one of those unfortunate cases where, while he clearly never was an Australian citizen, he seems never to have been anything else. Perhaps if he had arrived in Serbia under different circumstances, the Serbian government would have welcomed him as Serbian citizen - even though he was not born there and had perhaps never been there (update: he visited for six weeks when he was 17. That's it.) As the situation stands, he is a stateless person - not recognised as a citizen either by the place of origin of his parents, or of the country in which he spent almost his entire life - albeit as a visitor.
The News.com.au report states the bald facts, which frankly make DIMIA and former Immigration minister Phillip Ruddock seem heartless at best - easy enough to believe, surely, after the Solon/Alvarez case, the Rau case, and the controversy over mandatory detention of unlawful non-citizens. The Seven report is a bit different - current Immigration minister Amanda Vanstone's statement makes clear that Jovicic left Australia voluntarily, that the Australian embassy in Belgrade has obtained short-term accommodation and a medical checkup for Jovicic as a courtesy (they don't have to, after all, because he's not an Australian citizen - but their actions may have been dictated more by media sensitivity than by a desire to help Jovicic). Also, the added nuggets that Jovicic's father lives in Serbia and that Jovicic is eligible to apply for Serbian citizenship, but hasn't, does put a different complexion on the matter.
If true, Australia owes Jovicic nothing. He came to Australia as an innocent child, but remained a foreigner through the choice of his parents - and became a criminal, which may well be the result of poverty or childhood trauma, but remains nonetheless Jovicic's own responsibility. He didn't apply for citizenship until he'd been in Australia for 29 years, 13 of them as an adult. By the time he chose to apply for citizenship, he no longer fit the criteria - due to his own bad choices. He went voluntarily to Serbia - which probably means he didn't go in handcuffs, that being his other choice - but he has family there and, if Senator Vanstone is correct, can apply to become a citizen. His life will be what he makes of it, as it was before.
It's possible that Senator Vanstone's statement is rosier than the truth, though based on the reports I've read it's not possible to know. Perhaps Jovicic came from a broken home, is a prisoner of his heroin habit, has no relationship with his father or his relatives in Serbia, and perhaps he can't really get Serbian citizenship. If that's true, he's a victim, prosecuted when he should have been helped, stripped of citizenship in any country, trapped in a strange land, denied welfare or work.
The harsh moral of the story is this: in this world we have a short list of people who will help us when we need it. Friends, family, maybe our government if we're lucky, a few charity agencies. Help from strangers is so rare as to be a dream, like winning the lottery. Drug addiction is a quick route to alienating the people who will help you out of love. Crime is a quick route to making yourself ineligible for aid from official sources. And if you live in a country where you're not a citizen, for goodness' sake either make sure you follow the local rules, or have someplace else to live. Because you may well need it.
Update 09 March 2006: Jovicic has been permitted to return to Australia. Media attention and public opinion has probably had more to do with the government's decision than any ethic consideration, but then governments are like infants: they are entirely self-absorbed and have no morals, until they're taught to treat others with respect. Unlike infants, governments usually need to be taught over and over. Hopefully the Department of Immigration will, with this case in mind, actually weight the ethics of deporting persons with no other citizenship or with no ties to another country.
He's a heroin addict who committed a series of robberies (described as burglaries in this report) in Australia. His visa was cancelled and he was deported from Australia to Serbia in June 2004. The Serbian government has declined to recognise him as a citizen, so he has no right to work or obtain welfare in Serbia. He is reportedly maintaining a vigil outside the Australian embassy in Belgrade - where it is snowing, by the way - presumably seeking the opportunity to return to Australia.
According to the Seven report, a statement from Senator Amanda Vanstone (the current Immigration minister, though she did not hold that portfolio when Jovicic's visa was cancelled - that was Phillip Ruddock) said that Jovicic was convicted of 'various charges of burglary, theft, possessing stolen property and possessing prohibited substances between 1984 and 2002'. Also according to that statement, Jovicic did apply for Australian citizenship in 1998, but was declined on character grounds (i.e. because of his criminal record). Jovicic's father resides in Serbia, and Vanstone states that Jovicic is eligible to apply for Serbian citizenship, but that (as of the date of the statement) he had not.
Mr Jovicic has clearly screwed his life up. All his crimes may well stem from a need to feed his heroin addiction, and they all appear to be crimes of property and drug possession, rather than violence. This would be both tragic and reprehensible in anyone, but in his own case he was - perhaps unwittingly at first - unaware that he was peculiarly vulnerable to the consequences of criminal activity. His family seem not to have assisted him in obtaining citizenship in Australia, although he lived here from the age of two - sixteen years by the time he became an adult. His convictions date from 1984 - when he would have been 17 years old - and as a heroin addict and burglar it's safe to say that even if he had been aware as a young adult of the potential consequences of his behaviour, he might well have continued on this path anyway. He applied for, and was denied, Australian citizenship in 1998 - when he would have been 31 - but by this time he had too many, or too serious, criminal convictions to pass the requirements applied by DIMIA. It seems likely that at this point it was inevitable that he would have his visa cancelled and that he would be deported.
It's not unreasonable that character standards should be applied to persons who wish to visit, or to become citizens of, Australia - that is, where possible, prospective visitors and citizens should not be convicted felons. But Mr Jovicic is one of those unfortunate cases where, while he clearly never was an Australian citizen, he seems never to have been anything else. Perhaps if he had arrived in Serbia under different circumstances, the Serbian government would have welcomed him as Serbian citizen - even though he was not born there and had perhaps never been there (update: he visited for six weeks when he was 17. That's it.) As the situation stands, he is a stateless person - not recognised as a citizen either by the place of origin of his parents, or of the country in which he spent almost his entire life - albeit as a visitor.
The News.com.au report states the bald facts, which frankly make DIMIA and former Immigration minister Phillip Ruddock seem heartless at best - easy enough to believe, surely, after the Solon/Alvarez case, the Rau case, and the controversy over mandatory detention of unlawful non-citizens. The Seven report is a bit different - current Immigration minister Amanda Vanstone's statement makes clear that Jovicic left Australia voluntarily, that the Australian embassy in Belgrade has obtained short-term accommodation and a medical checkup for Jovicic as a courtesy (they don't have to, after all, because he's not an Australian citizen - but their actions may have been dictated more by media sensitivity than by a desire to help Jovicic). Also, the added nuggets that Jovicic's father lives in Serbia and that Jovicic is eligible to apply for Serbian citizenship, but hasn't, does put a different complexion on the matter.
If true, Australia owes Jovicic nothing. He came to Australia as an innocent child, but remained a foreigner through the choice of his parents - and became a criminal, which may well be the result of poverty or childhood trauma, but remains nonetheless Jovicic's own responsibility. He didn't apply for citizenship until he'd been in Australia for 29 years, 13 of them as an adult. By the time he chose to apply for citizenship, he no longer fit the criteria - due to his own bad choices. He went voluntarily to Serbia - which probably means he didn't go in handcuffs, that being his other choice - but he has family there and, if Senator Vanstone is correct, can apply to become a citizen. His life will be what he makes of it, as it was before.
It's possible that Senator Vanstone's statement is rosier than the truth, though based on the reports I've read it's not possible to know. Perhaps Jovicic came from a broken home, is a prisoner of his heroin habit, has no relationship with his father or his relatives in Serbia, and perhaps he can't really get Serbian citizenship. If that's true, he's a victim, prosecuted when he should have been helped, stripped of citizenship in any country, trapped in a strange land, denied welfare or work.
The harsh moral of the story is this: in this world we have a short list of people who will help us when we need it. Friends, family, maybe our government if we're lucky, a few charity agencies. Help from strangers is so rare as to be a dream, like winning the lottery. Drug addiction is a quick route to alienating the people who will help you out of love. Crime is a quick route to making yourself ineligible for aid from official sources. And if you live in a country where you're not a citizen, for goodness' sake either make sure you follow the local rules, or have someplace else to live. Because you may well need it.
Update 09 March 2006: Jovicic has been permitted to return to Australia. Media attention and public opinion has probably had more to do with the government's decision than any ethic consideration, but then governments are like infants: they are entirely self-absorbed and have no morals, until they're taught to treat others with respect. Unlike infants, governments usually need to be taught over and over. Hopefully the Department of Immigration will, with this case in mind, actually weight the ethics of deporting persons with no other citizenship or with no ties to another country.
posted by Hiraethin at 12:36 am
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