Shua Garfield, Hobart
University of Tasmania student Munyaradzi "Munya" Chiramiro is facing deportation to Zimbabwe after incorrectly completing a bridging visa application. Munya has lived in Hobart since mid-2001 and is one semester short of completing a three-year commerce degree.
Munya's family helped him to pay thousands of dollars in up-front fees every semester, until the beginning of 2003 when Zimbabwe's dollar crashed. His student visa automatically expired after he was late in paying his fees. He then applied for a bridging visa and began working two jobs to try to get by.
However, Munya wasn't informed that his application had been completed incorrectly, and the 28-day window to re-apply expired. He learned of the visa error only when immigration department officials kidnapped him from his workplace on January 21, and imprisoned him in the Hobart remand centre.
An appeal against the deportation order was lodged on January 27.
Munya's friends are campaigning to raise $20,000 to help pay his legal fees and outstanding university debts. On January 29, Munya's close friend John Davies told the Hobart Mercury that donations ranging from $5 to $200 have already started coming in.
Friends hope Munya can obtain a bridging visa, which would allow him to leave the country voluntarily and then reapply for a student visa. If deported, Munya will be required to pay the costs of his detention and deportation (likely to be thousands of dollars) before he could apply to re-enter Australia.
"The human solidarity shown by Munya's friends is in stark contrast to the cruelty of the government", commented Socialist Alliance spokesperson Kamala Emanuel. "Not only are they trying to force him out of Australia over circumstances outside of his control. They want him to pay the costs too!
"Why should Munya have to pay up-front fees anyway? The government's recent $4 per week tax cut and the budget surplus could be redirected to provide free university courses to Australian and overseas students."
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, February 4, 2004.
Visit the