Sarah Stephen
As this issue of 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly went to print, Australian citizen Vivian Solon had been in exile in the Philippines for 1486 days. August 14 also marks 744 days since the immigration department (DIMIA) began to cover up evidence that it knew Solon's deportation on July 20, 2001, was wrongful.
At 4.45pm on August 5, at the last possible moment, DIMIA handed over to a Senate inquiry three computer disks containing 2600 pages of information relating to Solon's deportation. Senators had to digest all the information before hearings resumed on August 8.
In the process, the senators found an email message that is further evidence of DIMIA officers' callous disregard for the whereabouts and well-being of Solon. The email, sent by a DIMIA officer to all DIMIA contact officers in NSW, refers to a call made by Solon's ex-husband, Robert Young, on September 24, 2001. It states:
"Subject: Wife went missing (disregard if you're not citizenship).
Hi all
I got a call from a male person and this is his story:
* he married a Filipino who arrived in 1984
* wife acquired citizenship in 1986
* wife went missing March 2001
* brisbane police told him wife removed from Australia July 2001
* his initial query is 'how can this be?'
* brisbane police advised him to contact immigration as it was immigration who removed wife.
* he gotten in contact with a 'russell' of compliance who advised him the matter is a citizenship issue.
* 'russell' advised him to contact 131 880 and ask for 'robin' of citizenship contact centre.
as robin was BC, I asked for his name and number. he wouldn't give it to me.
he took my name instead and said he would ring again when robin is available.
he didn't sound irate or annoyed, but he sounded more like anthony hopkins from silence of the lambs.
and I kid you not.
Enjoy."
One of Solon's lawyers, George Newhouse, condemned DIMIA's "despicable comments". In an August 8 media release, he said: "Here is a man, on behalf of his son, desperately looking for his ex-wife who has been wrongfully deported and DIMIA officers are ridiculing him ... We are entitled to know what action was taken in respect of this email and, if not, was it part of the wider cover up? How many people were involved in this scandal and how high does it go?"
From the day Solon's deportation became public, the government has stonewalled on her lawyers' demand that Solon be granted an adequate support package upon her return to Australia.
It is believed that 42-year-old Solon may have been suffering from a partially severed spinal cord when she was deported. She requires constant personal attention and care, and her lawyers are demanding a living allowance and accommodation for at least 12 months. Perhaps most importantly, they are demanding that the government provide Solon's brother with a visa to come to Australia and support himself while caring for his sister.
On August 11, Greens Senator Kerry Nettle asked minister for family and community services, Senator Kay Patterson, why the government had offered Solon only six months' assistance on her return to Australia and why the government is refusing to submit to independent arbitration to settle the matter. The minister replied by viciously attacking Solon's lawyers for refusing to let her return until all matters were settled.
In a media release on the same day, Nettle commented: "This government's actions have left Vivian languishing in a hospice for the dying in Manila for four years yet they are only willing to guarantee six months of care if she returns to Australia. That is clearly unfair and indicative of a defensive, uncompassionate approach."
Newhouse also hit out at Patterson's comments. He said on August 11: "We reject Senator Patterson's assertion and say that it is the Howard government that is blocking Vivian's return to Australia by offering Vivian a package that relies upon two Brisbane schoolboys caring for their mother after the six months of government accommodation expires. It is unacceptable to rely upon two schoolboys to look after their invalid mother when they have already suffered so much."
Two days after Solon's deportation became public, immigration minister Amanda Vanstone said, "We are determined to do everything we can to restore Ms Alvarez Solon, in as much as it is possible, to the position she would like to be in, had she not been returned to the Philippines". To Solon, who has now been waiting in Manila for more than 94 days, Vanstone's words must be ringing very hollow.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, August 17, 2005.
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