VIDEO: Visa mistake forces 92yo woman out of Australia
March 5, 2010 12:12 pm
Health
officials are criticising the deportation of the sole carer of a 92-year-old
The immigration department has found Mr Joseph, from
But the family’s doctor says it’s absurd that Ms Joseph will either be
forced to return to
“He cares for her on a daily basis including administering medication,” Ralph Weiner, who had been a GP for the family for more than a decade, said in a statement.
“Her only other option will be to go to a nursing home but why should she have to?”
Mr Joseph first arrived in
Dr Weiner’s comments were supported by a psychiatrist who specialises in mental health and the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF), who both expressed concerns on the possible impact the deportation will have on Ms Joseph’s health.
“Taking away her carer and loved one will put both her mental and physical health in jeopardy,” Lisa Fitzpatrick, secretary for the Victorian branch of the ANF, said in a statement.
“I have serious concerns for her mental health if her primary carer were to be deported,” psychiatrist Mary Davison of the Asylum Seekers Recourse Centre said in a statement.
The immigration department released a statement explaining that Ms Joseph
has other children who reside in
His application, however, was refused and eight intervention requests were rejected under both the Howard and Rudd Governments.
“He has made numerous unsuccessful legal appeals, including to the High
Court, and all have determined that Mr Joseph has no grounds to remain in
A spokesman for the department told AAP that Mr Joseph has volunteered to
leave
news.com.au
Transcript
TONY JONES, PRESENTER: Tomorrow afternoon a 69-year-old man
will be deported from
As the sole carer of his ailing 92-year-old mother, he’s forced to take her
with him.
Edward Joseph has exhausted all avenues of appeal after almost 14 years on
bridging visas and multiple appeals to courts and three federal Immigration
Ministers.
What makes this case unique is that his mother Irene Joseph was also given a
temporary visa when she returned to
The critical mistake was discovered by a lawyer late last year and her status
as a legal resident was restored. However, it was too late to help her son’s
case.
Had the mistake been discovered earlier, she could have sponsored him to stay
in the country as her sole carer, but his case had already gone through the
courts and the Immigration Minister refuses to reconsider it.
Hamish Fitzsimmons reports.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS, REPORTER: Irene Joseph is 92-years-old. She’s been living
in
(Woman sobs)
The reason she’s so upset is that tomorrow, despite the fact she’s a legal
Australian resident, she has to get on a plane and leave the country with her
son.
IRENE JOSEPH: I don’t like to go but I’m forced to. If he’s going I have to go.
(Sobs)
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: Her 69-year-old son Edward is her sole carer but he’s being
deported back to
EDWARD JOSEPH: She’s 92 and in our country the general thing is that we care
for our parents. I don’t think uh... I dont think, uh... she would survive if
she was here for long.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: Mrs Joseph and her husband migrated to
Soon after, they returned to
Then, instead of being given a returning resident visa, which would have meant
she qualified for health benefits and could sponsor her son Edward, she was
given a bridging visa, which didn’t entitle her to anything.
And that’s where the Josephs’ problems began, according to the family’s lawyer,
former Victorian Magistrate and former Refugee Review Tribunal head Murray
Gerkens.
MURRAY GERKENS, LAWYER: Her being a resident at that stage, she could then have
sponsored her son Edward to come to
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: In 2002, Edward Joseph’s visa was changed to a bridging
visa-E, which meant he could no longer work or get health benefits.
Edward Joseph’s several applications for asylum failed; a subsequent high court
case failed and eight requests for intervention involving successive
immigration ministers since 2001 have been denied.
EDWARD JOSEPH: I thought I’d have a better life here but now I’ve been asked to
leave by the 5th, suffering for six and a half years without a job.
They’ve prohibited me from working six and a half year. I’ve had no medicare,
no work rights, no study, nothing.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: Up until late last year, successive doctors had declared
Mrs Joseph was unfit to travel.
And that was confirmed by a medical check organised by the Immigration
Department last November, but when Edward Joseph says he returned to the same
doctor just a few hours after that appointment, the doctor had changed her mind
and suddenly his mother was declared fit to travel.
Suddenly the department’s decided - and I must say, they have a medical advice
to that effect - that she is fit to travel. But they had medical advice to the
contrary before that...
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: Why did they suddenly decide...
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: Why did they suddenly decide she was fit to travel?
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: Some big names have weighed in to support the Josephs,
including the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, the Labor Member
for Chisolm and Deputy Speaker of the Federal Parliament, Anna Burke, and, when
he was in opposition, Lindsay Tanner.
Appeals to the Immigration Department and the Minister have been ignored.
Immigration Department staff even refused to put Edward Joseph’s latest plea
directly to the Minister.
EDWARD JOSEPH: I can remember people at compliance... I was saying that I had
to care for my mother and if I’m sent back, there’s no one to care for her.
They say that your mother is not an issue for us because she’s legal in this
country but you have to leave. So I have no other option but I must take her
away.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: The Immigration and Citizenship Minister, Senator Chris
Evans, declined a request for an interview but said in a
statement:
“Mr Edward Joseph is a Sri Lankan national who has repeatedly been found to
have no lawful basis to remain in
He has made numerous unsuccessful legal appeals, including to the High Court,
and all have determined that Mr Joseph has no grounds to remain in
The Immigration Department says that because Mrs Joseph was sponsored to come
back to
The stepdaughter says she needs care herself and the son says he has work
commitments which prevent him from being his mother’s full time carer.
MURRAY GERKENS: Where’s our, um, our spirit of generosity that we can’t let
this old lady spend the rest of her life in her familiar surroundings in this
country, rather than send her back to a country which has been racked by civil
war and is still suffering civil unrest.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: Back at their accommodation provided by the Catholic
church, the Josephs are packing.
EDWARD JOSEPH: I don’t know what im going to do so I’m just going.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: Edward and Irene Joseph will return to
Hamish Fitzsimmons Lateline.
