- Israel’s Netanyahu calls for deportation of Eritrean refugee ‘rioters’ Al Jazeera English
- With some 160 injured in clashes, MDA to hold special blood drive due to shortage The Times of Israel
- Eritrean Asylum-Seekers Clash With Israel Police | VOA News Voice of America
- Israel’s Netanyahu says he wants Eritrean migrants involved in violent clashes to be deported The Associated Press
- ‘A real threat’: PM backs widespread arrests, eyes deportations in migrant crackdown The Times of Israel
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Tag Archives: deportation
Putin Legalizes Deportation Of Residents Of Illegally Annexed Territories Who Refuse Russian Citizenship – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
- Putin Legalizes Deportation Of Residents Of Illegally Annexed Territories Who Refuse Russian Citizenship Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
- Putin signs into law decision to deport Ukrainians without Russian passports from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories Yahoo News
- Putin signs law on stripping naturalised Russians who ‘threaten national security’ of citizenship, RIA reports Reuters
- Racial Cleansing: Moscow turning captured parts of Ukraine into mini-Russia Firstpost
- Putin signs decree allowing deportation of residents of annexed territories who refuse Russian citizenship Meduza
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Rwanda deportation: European Court of Human Rights stops first flight
According to the UK’s PA Media news agency, “all migrants have been removed from the plane and the flight to Rwanda will not take off as scheduled tonight.”
But on the evening that the plane was expected to depart, the ECHR issued a series of rulings in the cases of the last Rwanda-bound asylum-seekers, ordering the British government not to remove them.
In its ruling for one Iraqi national, the ECHR said: “The European Court has indicated to the UK Government that the applicant should not be removed to Rwanda until three weeks after the delivery of the final domestic decision in his ongoing judicial review proceedings.”
The ECHR essentially found that that asylum seeker had not exhausted all legal proceedings in the UK, with British courts planning to hear the applicant’s judicial review challenge in July, and should not be removed until having done so.
“BREAKING: Last ticket cancelled,” tweeted Care4Calais, upon news of the flight cancellation. “NO ONE IS GOING TO RWANDA.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also reacted, tweeting: “Tonight’s inhumane deportation of asylum seekers to #Rwanda has been stopped by the ECtHR – minutes before it was due to depart. Sending people fleeing violence to a country thousands of miles away was already cruel and callous. It’s now potentially unlawful too.”
The development is a rebuff to the UK government, after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the deportation flight would depart regardless of how many people were on board.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said Tuesday evening that she was “disappointed” that the flight had been halted, and that her office was reviewing the legality of the decision. The government plans to move forward with the project, she also said.
“Access to the UK’s asylum system must be based on need, not on the ability to pay people smugglers. The demands on the current system, the cost to the taxpayer, and the flagrant abuses are increasing, and the British public have rightly had enough,” Patel said.
“I have always said this policy will not be easy to deliver and am disappointed that legal challenge and last-minute claims have meant today’s flight was unable to depart,” she added.
Despite the government’s attempts to justify the scheme, criticism of the plan has continued to grow. Church of England leaders on Tuesday called it an “immoral policy that shames Britain” in a joint letter to The Times newspaper.
“Rwanda is a brave country recovering from catastrophic genocide. The shame is our own, because our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries,” the letter reads.
“Many are desperate people fleeing unspeakable horrors. Many are Iranians, Eritreans and Sudanese citizens, who have an asylum grant rate of at least 88 per cent,” it continued. “We cannot offer asylum to everyone, but we must not outsource our ethical responsibilities, or discard international law — which protects the right to claim asylum.”
In response, Truss told Sky News that the Rwanda flights policy was “completely moral” and that critics “need to suggest an alternative policy that will work.”
‘Incredibly dangerous’ journey
According to data from the UK Home office, 28,526 people arrived to the United Kingdom on small boats in 2021. The vast majority of them, 23,655, were men and nearly two thirds came from just four countries: Iran (7,874), Iraq (5,414), Eritrea (2,829) and Syria (2,260).
Care4Calais said the reason the majority of refugees are male is the result of fleeing their homelands where “young men may be killed to stop them rebelling against the government, or forced into military service.”
It also explained the journey to Calais is “incredibly dangerous” and that “many families will not risk their daughters safety on a journey to Europe. The hope is the men who escape will then help them to safety.”
Almost all of the people who come on small boats — 98% off those who arrived in 2020 — have applied for asylum.
The Refugee Council said that most people arriving by small boats across the Channel are likely to be genuine refugees fleeing persecution.
Statistics from the Home Office show that people arriving to the UK from Iran (88%), Eritrea (97%) and Syria (98%) have generally high chances of being granted asylum.
The chances are significantly smaller for Iraqi citizens — only 48% of the decisions made in 2021 were positive.
The Refugee Council said that overall, around 75% of initial asylum decisions made in the year to March 2022 were positive and that of those who were rejected, about half were allowed asylum appeal.
More recently, the number of people coming on small boats has been increasing. The Home Office said 4,540 people arrived in the first three months of the year, more than three times higher than the same three months in 2021.
The number of people arriving was boosted by much higher numbers of people coming from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover last summer.
The Home Office said 1,094 Afghan citizens came to the UK in the first quarter of 2022, almost as many as arrived over the entire 2021.
An average £183,000 per flight
The UK has said it will pay Rwanda £120 million ($145 million) over the next five years to finance the program. On top of that, the UK has also promised to pay for the processing and integration costs for each relocated person, covering the cost of legal advice, caseworkers, translators, accommodation, food and healthcare.
According to a parliamentary research briefing, the British government said it expects these will be similar to asylum processing costs in the UK, which stand at around £12,000 per person.
The UK has refused to disclose the cost of the flights it will charter to transport deportees to Rwanda. The Home Office said in its latest annual report it paid £8.6 million to charter 47 deportation flights carrying 883 people in 2020. While the cost of individual flights varied depending on the destination, the figures mean that on average, the Home Office spent £183,000 per flight or £9,700 per person.
Because there is no cap on the number of migrants, thousands could potentially pour into the capital Kigali within the first five years of the plan.
‘We’re doing this for the right reasons’
Ahead of the aircraft’s previously-scheduled departure, the Rwandan government said it was standing ready to receive asylum-seekers from the UK and that it will do its best “to make sure the migrants are taken care of.”
“We are asking that this program be given a chance,” said Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo at a press conference in the Kigali on Tuesday.
Makolo responded to the Church of England leaders’ condemnation saying, “we don’t think it’s immoral to offer a home to people — something we have done here for more than 30 years.”
“Where we’re coming from, we’re doing this for the right reasons. We want this to be a welcoming place and we’ll do our best to make sure the migrants are taken care of and that they’re able to build a life here,” she added.
Although Rwanda is offering to help with migrants’ resettlement to a third country by providing travel transportation if they manage to obtain legal residence, “the primary objective [of the scheme] is to fully integrate them into Rwandan society,” said Doris Uwicyeza Picard, the chief advisor to the Minister of Justice.
“There are legal paths to citizenship for migrant workers and for refugees provided they are eligible for citizenship,” she added.
The scheme will last five years, but Rwanda intends to turn it into a binding treaty at a later stage, said Picard.
CNN’s Bethlehem Feleke, Nada Bashir, and Chris Liakos contributed to this report.
Biden administration protects Cameroonians in the U.S. from deportation, offers work permits
The Biden administration on Friday announced it will offer Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to more than 10,000 immigrants from Cameroon in the U.S., protecting them from deportation and allowing them to work legally due to the ongoing armed conflict in the African country.
Once it is open for applications, the TPS program will allow Cameroonians who have lived in the U.S. as of April 14 to obtain work permits and deportation protections for 18 months if they meet the eligibility requirements and pass background checks.
A 1990 law authorizes the U.S. government to create TPS programs for immigrants who are undocumented or have temporary status if the U.S. determines their home country cannot safely accept the return of its citizens because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the TPS designation for Cameroon was justified because of the years-old conflict between the Cameroonian government and armed separatist groups in the country’s Anglophone regions in the west. The fighting has killed 4,000 civilians, according to Human Rights Watch.
DHS also cited an increase in attacks by Boko Haram, an Islamist terrorist group in Africa. The conditions, DHS said, have fostered “extreme violence,” decimated Cameroon’s infrastructure, fueled economic turmoil and food insecurity and displaced hundreds of thousands of Cameroonians.
“Cameroonian nationals currently residing in the U.S. who cannot safely return due to the extreme violence perpetrated by government forces and armed separatists, and a rise in attacks led by Boko Haram, will be able to remain and work in the United States until conditions in their home country improve,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
Approximately 11,700 immigrants from Cameroon are expected to qualify for TPS, according to a DHS estimate. Cameroonians who arrive in the U.S. after Friday’s announcement, whether legally or illegally, will not be eligible for TPS.
While it allows beneficiaries to work and live in the U.S. without fear of deportation, TPS does not make them eligible for permanent residency or citizenship.
Giles Clarke/UNOCHA via Getty Images
The Biden administration has increasingly used the TPS authority to shield subsets of immigrant groups in the U.S. from deportation, extending or creating designations for nearly a dozen countries beset by war, ethnic violence, political instability and other crises.
The designations by the Biden administration have made approximately 600,000 immigrants in the U.S. eligible for TPS, including citizens of Venezuela, Myanmar, Haiti, Afghanistan and Ukraine, government estimates show.
The moves stand in sharp contrast with the policies of the Trump administration, which sought to end TPS programs for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan as part of its crackdown on humanitarian immigration protections. Those efforts were blocked by federal court rulings.
Trump administration officials and immigration restrictionists have argued the TPS authority has been abused, shielding immigrants from deportation for longer than necessary.
Friday’s announcement is a victory for advocacy groups that had been calling on the Biden administration to grant TPS to Cameroonians since last year.
Progressive advocates and some Democrats had expressed frustration about the time it was taking to offer protections to citizens of a predominantly Black African country, compared to the TPS designation for Ukraine, which was announced a week after the Russian invasion.
Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a group that helps Black migrants, welcomed the TPS designation for Cameroon, calling it “overdue.” But she said immigration relief for Black immigrants has been unfairly denied or delayed, noting her group and others have been lobbying for TPS to be offered to Cameroonians for months.
“This has been a long-fought battle,” Jozef said. “When it comes to TPS for Cameroon and Haiti, it was not just a gift. That was something we literally had to fight for, for a very long time.”
Novak Djokovic arrives back in Belgrade after deportation from Australia
Djokovic traveled to Belgrade from Melbourne via Dubai after losing a court challenge on Sunday against the Australian government’s decision to cancel his visa on public health and order grounds.
Under Australian law, Djokovic can be banned from the country for three years, though Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews hasn’t ruled out an exemption. “Any application will be reviewed on its merits,” she said.
The Australian Open is the first grand slam of the tennis season. The second is the French Open at Roland Garros, which is being staged between May 22 and June 5.
But all professional athletes who wish to compete in France will have to be vaccinated against Covid-19, France’s Sports Ministry told CNN on Monday.
France’s vaccine pass law, approved by parliament on Sunday, will require people to have a vaccine certificate to enter public places such as restaurants, cafes, cinemas and sports arenas, among others.
“The rule is simple. The vaccine pass will be required once the law comes into force in institutions that were already subject to the health pass (sporting or cultural). This will apply to everyone (spectators, professional sportspeople),” a French Sports Ministry spokeswoman told CNN.
That new legislation puts the chances of Djokovic, who has not been vaccinated against Covid-19, competing at the French Open in jeopardy.
The French Open previously allowed for unvaccinated players to compete as they operated in a bubble around the tournament.
Djokovic is the reigning men’s singles champion on the clay courts of Roland Garros. Along with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the 34-year-old Serbian has won 20 grand-slam titles.
“As for Roland Garros, it’s in May. The situation may change by then and it is hoped that it will be more favorable. So we’ll see but now clearly it’s not exception [from the rules],” the spokeswoman added.
Novak Djokovic lands in Dubai, then takes flight to native Serbia after deportation from Australia
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Novak Djokovic was heading home to Serbia on Monday after his deportation from Australia over its required COVID-19 vaccination ended the No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player’s hopes of defending his Australian Open title.
An Emirates plane carrying him from Australia landed in Dubai early Monday, and Djokovic was later seen on board a plane due to land in the Serbian capital of Belgrade at 12:10 p.m. local time. His lawyers had argued in an Australian court on Sunday that he should be allowed to stay in the country and compete in the tournament under a medical exemption due to a coronavirus infection last month.
Djokovic has won nine Australian Open titles, including three in a row, and a total of 20 Grand Slam singles trophies, tied with rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most in the history of men’s tennis. Federer is not playing while recovering from injury, and Nadal is the only former Australian Open men’s champion in the tournament that began Monday.
Djokovic has overwhelming support in his native Serbia where his closest family lives. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has accused the Australian government of “harassing” the top-ranked tennis star and urged him to return where he would be welcomed.
Djokovic had tested positive with coronavirus in Belgrade on Dec. 16, which he used as an argument to enter Australia, but his visa was initially canceled on Jan. 6 by a border official who decided he didn’t qualify for a medical exemption from Australia’s rules for unvaccinated visitors.
He won an appeal to stay for the tournament, but Australia’s immigration minister later revoked his visa. Three Federal Court judges decided unanimously Sunday to affirm the immigration minister’s right to cancel Djokovic’s visa.
Vaccination amid the pandemic was a requirement for anyone at the Australian Open, whether players, their coaches or anyone at the tournament site. More than 95% of all Top 100 men and women in their tours’ respective rankings are vaccinated. At least two men — American Tennys Sandgren and Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert — skipped the first major tournament of the year due to the vaccine requirement.
Djokovic’s attempt to get the medical exemption for not being vaccinated sparked anger in Australia, where strict lockdowns in cities and curbs on international travel have been employed to try to control the spread of the coronavirus since the pandemic began.
But Djokovic has overwhelming support in his native Serbia, and President Aleksandar Vucic said the court hearing in Australia was “a farce with a lot of lies.”
“They think that they humiliated Djokovic with this 10-day harassment, and they actually humiliated themselves. If you said that the one who was not vaccinated has no right to enter, Novak would not come or would be vaccinated,” Vucic told reporters.
Novak Djokovic returns to court as he continues to fight deportation from Australia
Novak Djokovic returned to court on Sunday to fight an attempt to deport him because of what a government minister described as a perception that the top-ranked tennis player was a “talisman of a community of anti-vaccination sentiment.”
Three Federal Court judges hope to hear the entire case in a single day, so that the men’s No. 1-ranked tennis player and nine-time Australian Open champion might begin on Monday his title defense at the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year.
Djokovic spent Saturday night in hotel immigration and his lawyers had a morning meeting with immigration officials.
Television footage showed the 34-year-old Serb wearing a face mask as he sat in a vehicle near an immigration detention hotel.
He is permitted to leave hotel detention to spend Sunday in his lawyers’ offices, under the guard of two immigration officials, while the challenge is heard via a video hearing.
James Ross / AP
Djokovic spent four nights confined to a hotel near downtown Melbourne before being released last Monday when he won a court challenge on procedural grounds against his first visa cancellation.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke on Friday blocked the visa, which was originally revoked when he landed at a Melbourne airport on January 5.
Deportation from Australia can lead to a three-year ban on returning to the country, although that may be waived, depending on the circumstances.
On Sunday, Federal Chief Justice James Allsop gave his reasons for rejecting Hawke’s argument that the case only warranted a hearing by a single judge.
Allsop cited Hawke’s own words that the issues behind his decision to cancel the visa “go to the very preservation of life and health of many members of the community.”
A verdict of three judges is far less likely to be appealed than the decision of a single judge.
Djokovic could not appeal a decision made on Sunday or Monday in time to compete in the Australian Open, Allsop said.
“Any right of appeal of Mr. Djokovic, if he lost, would or maybe in least in part made inutile because of the proximity of the commencement of the event being the purpose of his visit and the purpose of his visa,” Allsop said.
Lawyers for Djokovic filed documents in court that revealed Hawke had stated that the tennis star “is perceived by some as a talisman of a community of anti-vaccination sentiment.”
Australia has one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world.
But the minister said Djokovic’s presence in Australia may be a risk to the health and “good order” of the Australian public and “may be counterproductive to efforts at vaccination by others in Australia.”
The Health Department advised that Djokovic was a “low” risk of transmitting COVID-19 and a “very low” risk of transmitting the disease at the Australian Open.”
The minister cited comments Djokovic made in April 2020 that he was “opposed to vaccination” and had wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine to compete.
Djokovic’s lawyers argued that the minister had cited no evidence that Djokovic’s presence in Australia may “foster anti-vaccination sentiment.”
Hundreds of activists held a peaceful rally outside the Melbourne Park complex that hosts the Australian Open, and planned another for Monday.
“We’re at Rod Laver Arena to support Novak. He’s won nine (Australian Open) titles here. Hopefully this will be No. 10 — if he can get out of quarantine and get his visa back,” Harrison McLean, one of the rally organizers, said. “We’re a peaceful movement, here to raise awareness and support everyone’s freedom of choice.”
On Saturday, Federal Chief Justice James Allsop announced that he would hear the case with Justices David O’Callaghan and Anthony Besanko.
The decision for three judges to hear the appeal instead of a single judge elevates the importance of the case from the judiciary’s perspective and means any verdict would be less likely to be appealed.
Sydney-based immigration lawyer Simon Jeans said he was surprised that Djokovic was no longer being deported because his COVID-19 infection last month did not exempt him from Australia’s strict rules that foreign visitors are vaccinated unless there are sound medical reasons that they can’t be.
“The unanswered question is if Djokovic was such a threat to good order, why grant him a visa” in November? Jeans asked. “This is a high-risk strategy. It’s going to be much harder for the minister to convince three judges that what he did was in the public interest.”
Djokovic, who has won the last three Australian Open titles, is seeking a record 21st Grand Slam singles title. He is currently tied with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer for the most by a man in history.
In a post on social media Wednesday that constituted his most extensive public comments yet on the episode, Djokovic blamed his agent for checking the wrong box on his travel document, calling it “a human error and certainly not deliberate.”
In that same post, Djokovic said he went ahead with an interview and a photo shoot with a French newspaper in Serbia despite knowing he’d tested positive for COVID-19. Djokovic has been attempting to use what he says was a positive test taken on Dec. 16 to justify a medical exemption that would allow him to avoid the vaccine requirement on the grounds that he already had COVID-19.
In canceling Djokovic’ visa, Hawke said Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government “is firmly committed to protecting Australia’s borders, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The episode has touched a nerve in Australia, and particularly in Victoria state, where locals went through more than 260 days of lockdowns during the worst of the pandemic.
Australia faces a massive surge in virus cases driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. On Friday, the nation reported 130,000 new cases, including nearly 35,000 in Victoria state. Although many infected people aren’t getting as sick as they did in previous outbreaks, the surge is still putting severe strain on the health system and disrupting supply chains.
Djokovic’s supporters in Serbia have been dismayed by the visa cancellations. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused the Australian government of “harassing” and “maltreating” Djokovic and asked whether Morrison’s government is just trying to score political points ahead of upcoming elections.
“Why didn’t you return him back right away, or tell him it was impossible to get a visa?” Vucic asked the Australian authorities in a social media address. “Why are you harassing him and why are you maltreating not only him, but his family and an entire nation that is free and proud.”
Everyone at the Australian Open is required to be vaccinated.
According to Grand Slam rules, if Djokovic is forced to pull out of the tournament before the order of play for Day 1 is announced, No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev would move into Djokovic’s spot in the bracket.
If Djokovic withdraws from the tournament after Monday’s schedule is released, he would be replaced in the field by what’s known as a “lucky loser” — a player who loses in the qualifying tournament but gets into the main draw because of another player’s exit before competition has started.
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Djokovic back in court to fight deportation from Australia
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic returned to court on Sunday to fight an attempt to deport him because of what a government minister described as a perception that the top-ranked tennis player was a “talisman of a community of anti-vaccination sentiment.”
Three Federal Court judges hope to hear the entire case in a single day so that the men’s No. 1-ranked tennis player and nine-time Australian Open champion might begin on Monday his title defense at the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year.
Djokovic spent Saturday night in hotel immigration and his lawyers had a morning meeting with immigration officials.
Television footage showed the 34-year-old Serb wearing a face mask as he sat in a vehicle near an immigration detention hotel.
He is permitted to leave hotel detention to spend Sunday in his lawyers’ offices, under the guard of two immigration officials, while the challenge is heard via a video hearing.
Djokovic spent four nights confined to a hotel near downtown Melbourne before being released last Monday when he won a court challenge on procedural grounds against his first visa cancellation.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke on Friday blocked the visa, which was originally revoked when he landed at a Melbourne airport on Jan. 5.
Deportation from Australia can lead to a three-year ban on returning to the country, although that may be waived, depending on the circumstances.
On Sunday, Federal Chief Justice James Allsop gave his reasons for rejecting Hawke’s argument that the case only warranted a hearing by a single judge.
Allsop cited Hawke’s own words that the issues behind his decision to cancel the visa “go to the very preservation of life and health of many members of the community.”
A verdict of three judges is far less likely to be appealed than the decision of a single judge.
Jokovic could not appeal a decision made on Sunday or Monday in time to compete in the Australian Open, Allsop said.
“Any right of appeal of Mr. Jokovic, if he lost, would or maybe in least in part made inutile because of the proximity of the commencement of the event being the purpose of his visit and the purpose of his visa,” Allsop said.
Lawyers for Djokovic filed documents in court that revealed Hawke had stated that the tennis star “is perceived by some as a talisman of a community of anti-vaccination sentiment.”
Australia has one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world.
But the minister said Djokovic’s presence in Australia may be a risk to the health and “good order” of the Australian public and “may be counterproductive to efforts at vaccination by others in Australia.”
The Health Department advised that Djokovic was a “low” risk of transmitting COVID-19 and a “very low” risk of transmitting the disease at the Australian Open.”
The minister cited comments Djokovic made in April 2020 that he was “opposed to vaccination” and had wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine to compete.
Djokovic’s lawyers argued that the minister had cited no evidence that Djokovic’s presence in Australia may “foster anti-vaccination sentiment.”
Hundreds of activists held a peaceful rally outside the Melbourne Park complex that hosts the Australian Open, and planned another for Monday.
“We’re at Rod Laver Arena to support Novak. He’s won nine (Australian Open) titles here. Hopefully this will be No. 10 — if he can get out of quarantine and get his visa back,” Harrison McLean, one of the rally organizers, said. “We’re a peaceful movement, here to raise awareness and support everyone’s freedom of choice.”
On Saturday, Federal Chief Justice James Allsop announced that he would hear the case with Justices David O’Callaghan and Anthony Besanko.
The decision for three judges to hear the appeal instead of a single judge elevates the importance of the case from the judiciary’s perspective and means any verdict would be less likely to be appealed.
Sydney-based immigration lawyer Simon Jeans said he was surprised that Djokovic was no longer being deported because his COVID-19 infection last month did not exempt him from Australia’s strict rules that foreign visitors are vaccinated unless there are sound medical reasons that they can’t be.
“The unanswered question is if Djokovic was such a threat to good order, why grant him a visa” in November? Jeans asked. “This is a high-risk strategy. It’s going to be much harder for the minister to convince three judges that what he did was in the public interest.”
Djokovic, who has won the last three Australian Open titles, is seeking a record 21st Grand Slam singles title. He is currently tied with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer for the most by a man in history.
In a post on social media Wednesday that constituted his most extensive public comments yet on the episode, Djokovic blamed his agent for checking the wrong box on his travel document, calling it “a human error and certainly not deliberate.”
In that same post, Djokovic said he went ahead with an interview and a photo shoot with a French newspaper in Serbia despite knowing he’d tested positive for COVID-19. Djokovic has been attempting to use what he says was a positive test taken on Dec. 16 to justify a medical exemption that would allow him to avoid the vaccine requirement on the grounds that he already had COVID-19.
In canceling Djokovic’ visa, Hawke said Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government “is firmly committed to protecting Australia’s borders, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The episode has touched a nerve in Australia, and particularly in Victoria state, where locals went through more than 260 days of lockdowns during the worst of the pandemic.
Australia faces a massive surge in virus cases driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. On Friday, the nation reported 130,000 new cases, including nearly 35,000 in Victoria state. Although many infected people aren’t getting as sick as they did in previous outbreaks, the surge is still putting severe strain on the health system and disrupting supply chains.
Djokovic’s supporters in Serbia have been dismayed by the visa cancellations. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused the Australian government of “harassing” and “maltreating” Djokovic and asked whether Morrison’s government is just trying to score political points ahead of upcoming elections.
“Why didn’t you return him back right away, or tell him it was impossible to get a visa?” Vucic asked the Australian authorities in a social media address. “Why are you harassing him and why are you maltreating not only him, but his family and an entire nation that is free and proud.”
Everyone at the Australian Open is required to be vaccinated.
According to Grand Slam rules, if Djokovic is forced to pull out of the tournament before the order of play for Day 1 is announced, No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev would move into Djokovic’s spot in the bracket.
If Djokovic withdraws from the tournament after Monday’s schedule is released, he would be replaced in the field by what’s known as a “lucky loser” — a player who loses in the qualifying tournament but gets into the main draw because of another player’s exit before competition has started.
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AP Sports Writer John Pye contributed to this report.
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More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Novak Djokovic gets visa canceled again, faces deportation from Australia
Novak Djokovic had his visa revoked and faces deportation again over his COVID-19 vaccination status days before the start of the Australian Open despite the government ruling in his favor earlier in the week.
Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said Friday he used ministerial discretion on the grounds of public interest to cancel Djokovic’s visa.
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Defending men’s champion Serbia’s Novak Djokovic gestures during a practice session on Margaret Court Arena ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022.
(AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Djokovic’s team was expected to appeal at the Federal Circuit and Family Court, which it did successfully earlier in the week on procedural grounds when his visa was first canceled when he landed at a Melbourne Airport. Hawke said he made his judgment “carefully.”
“Today I exercised my power under section 133C(3) of the Migration Act to cancel the visa held by Mr Novak Djokovic on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so,” Hawke said in a statement.
“The Morrison government is firmly committed to protecting Australia’s borders, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison added: “They rightly expect the result of those sacrifices (Australians have made) to be protected. The pandemic has been incredibly difficult for every Australian, but we have stuck together and saved lives and livelihoods.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC IS ‘PLAYING BY HIS OWN RULES,’ AUSTRALIAN OPEN FAVORITE SAYS
Defending champion Serbia’s Novak Djokovic takes a drink during a practice session at the Rod Laver Arena ahead of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022.
(Kelly Defina/Pool Photo via AP)
“Our strong border protection policies have kept Australians safe, prior to COVID and now during the pandemic.”
Djokovic is unvaccinated against the coronavirus. All Australian Open participants and incoming travelers into the country need to be vaccinated unless they receive a medical exemption.
A medical exemption was approved by the Victoria state government and Tennis Australian, allowing him to obtain a visa to travel. However, the Australian Border Force rejected the medical exemption and canceled his visa when he landed in Melbourne on Jan. 5.
The 20-time major champion was holed up in a Melbourne immigration hotel until a judge reversed the decision. He was then picked as the No. 1 seed for the tournament and was able to practice at Rod Laver Arena ahead of the Open.
The saga has overshadowed the tournament.
Defending men’s champion Serbia’s Novak Djokovic rests during a practice session on Margaret Court Arena ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 13, 2022.
(AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)
“It’s not a good situation for anyone. Just want it obviously to get resolved. I think it would be good for everyone if that was the case. It just seems like it’s dragged on for quite a long time now — not great for the tennis, not great for the Australian Open, not great for Novak,” British tennis star Andy Murray said.
Should Djokovic be forced to pull out of the event before the order of play is announced for Day 1, Grand Slam rules state No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia would move into his spot to face Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia.
If Djokovic withdraws after the schedule is released, he will be replaced by a “lucky loser.” The so-called “lucky loser” is a player who loses in the qualifying tournament but gets into the main draw because of another player’s dropout.
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The Australian Open begins Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Novak Djokovic has Australian visa revoked again, putting him at risk of deportation
Immigration minister Alex Hawke announced the decision in a statement on Friday, after days of deliberation about whether to eject the Serbian star from the country.
It is unclear whether Australia will move to deport Djokovic as the decision can still be challenged by his legal team.
“Today I exercised my power under section 133C(3) of the Migration Act to cancel the visa held by Mr Novak Djokovic on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so,” the statement said.
“In making this decision, I carefully considered information provided to me by the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Border Force and Mr Djokovic. The Morrison Government is firmly committed to protecting Australia’s borders, particularly in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The decision comes four days after a judge ruled that Australian Border Force (ABF) officers had been “unreasonable” when they canceled his initial visa to enter Australia on his arrival in the country on January 5. The judge ordered Djokovic be freed from immigration detention within 30 minutes.
The second cancellation is the latest twist in a saga that has garnered global headlines and put Australia’s Covid and immigration policies under scrutiny.
Under current Australian laws, all international arrivals are required to be vaccinated against Covid-19 — which Djokovic is not — unless they have a medical exemption.
Djokovic said he was under the impression he could enter because two independent panels associated with Tennis Australia and the Victorian state government had granted him an exemption on the grounds that he had been infected with Covid-19 in December. The federal government argued that under its rules previous infection with Covid-19 is not a valid reason for an exemption.
Despite Monday’s ruling, the immigration minister retained ministerial power to personally intervene in the case and ultimately had the final say as to whether Djokovic would be allowed to stay, though his decision can be appealed.
In his ruling, the judge noted that if Djokovic had been deported, he would have been banned from Australia for three years. However this can be waived in special circumstances.
How it came to this
Djokovic arrived in Melbourne on January 5 and promptly had his visa canceled for entering the country without a valid reason why he couldn’t be vaccinated against Covid-19.
He spent several nights in a detention hotel in Melbourne, which also houses dozens of refugees — some of whom have been held in immigration detention for more than eight years.
His lawyers challenged the decision and won the legal battle on Monday, but since then questions have emerged over Djokovic’s behavior after testing positive for Covid-19 on December 16.
In a statement published to social media on Wednesday, Djokovic acknowledged he did not immediately isolate after receiving a positive diagnosis — but denied knowing he had the virus when attending several public events.
He also apologized for apparently false information on his Australia visa declaration, specifically that he hadn’t traveled in the 14 days before his arrival in the country. Photos taken during that period appear to show him in both Spain and Serbia.
Djokovic said a member of his support staff submitted the information and the omission had been “human error.”
In the statement, Djokovic also admitted doing an interview and photo shoot with a French sports newspaper while Covid positive, which he conceded was an “error of judgment.”
The visa dispute and decision whether to allow unvaccinated Djokovic — who has previously voiced opposition to Covid-19 vaccines and vaccine mandates — into the country comes at a time when Covid-19 case numbers are soaring.
On Friday, the state of Victoria — home to Melbourne where the Australian Open is being held — reported 34,836 cases, with a record 976 people hospitalized with Covid-19. This week the country surpassed one million cases over the entire pandemic.
Before the decision, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has said he was “proud” to help the tennis star during the visa dispute but acknowledged it was “necessary that people are vaccinated.”
He also appeared to indirectly address Djokovic’s admission that he did not immediately isolate after testing positive for Covid-19 in December.
“If you know you are infected, you shouldn’t be going out in public,” Vučić said in an interview with public broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS).
Meanwhile, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić told the BBC it would be “a clear breach of rules” if Djokovic was at a public event after knowing he had tested positive.
What could come next
Maria Jockel, legal principal of BDO Migration Services, said Djokovic’s lawyers will have 28 days to make representations to the minister, stating why he should reverse his decision.
During that time he could be sent back to immigration detention, most likely the Park Hotel in Melbourne, while his lawyers discuss their next move.
Despite his visa being canceled once again, experts say it is still possible Djokovic could be released on another visa to contest the Australian Open.
“If there’s a incredible outcry about having the world’s number one tennis players in detention whilst the Australian Open is on, maybe the government would relent and let him out on a bridging visa,” said Abul Rizvi, a former deputy secretary with the immigration department.
A bridging visa would allow him to work — or in his case his play — but the political repercussions of that decision are unclear as it would seem to contradict the message that Djokovic poses a health risk to the Australian people.