BY KERRY BAKER
HOBART — One hundred people gathered at the International Wall of Friendship on April 11 to protest against the forced removal of the five remaining Kosovar refugees in Tasmania. The Sopjani family were being held by the immigration department in a nearby hotel.
The only other Kosovar remaining in Tasmania is fugitive Akif Lutfui, who has said he would rather live on the streets than give himself up to immigration authorities. Lutfui, like many of the people being forced to return to war-torn Kosova, has no family or possessions to return to there. He would rather live in Hobart where he has friends, a job and intends to study.
"I have a cousin in Pristina who has told me of men being killed there last week", Lutfui told the Hobart Mercury. "I am so scared of being sent back to Kosovo that I have not slept for four days. I can't stay in one place for long because I'm too scared, so I keep moving between friends' places. I have no money for food or clothes. I am taking it one day at a time. All I can do now is pray."
One year ago, immigration minister Philip Ruddock said that no Kosovar in Australia would be forced on a plane against their will; yet that is exactly what is happening.
For the remaining five Kosovars, there appeared to be some hope of staying when Premier Jim Bacon announced he had made a deal with Ruddock to allow the state government to sponsor the refugees. However, on April 12, Ruddock said that there was no way around immigration department rules.
The federal government has placed bureaucratic obstacles in the path of the Kosovars' efforts to stay. At first, it was required that the refugees be proficient in English and have work skills. After dropping the English, age and education requirements, Ruddock on April 13 announced that the refugees needed to prove they have been offered full-time jobs that require diploma-level qualifications — a requirement virtually impossible to meet.
Highlighting the level of public support for the Kosovars' right to stay, the Tasmanian parliament voted unanimously on April 12 to allow them to stay.