German-born criminal to face deportation 06/02/2007 00:00

Sydney (dpa) - German-born convicted criminal Harald Kertz on Tuesday became the latest permanent resident to mount a public campaign against his deportation.

Kertz, 48, arrived in Australia with his parents when he was 11. Since then he has racked up jail terms for offences linked to financing a drug habit.

He was arrested last week and is in an immigration detention centre awaiting deportation under laws that allow permanent residents to have their visas revoked on the grounds of bad character.

His parents, along with his former schoolteacher, Jim Alexander, say the former heroin addict could not cope with being sent back to Cologne, the city of his birth.

"He knows no one," Alexander said. "There are none of the usual supports that any and all of us need - friends, family, community, the usual structures that help anyone to survive and thrive."

Also awaiting deportation in Sydney's Villawood detention centre is Stefan Nystrom, a 32-year-old convicted rapist who has lived all but 25 days of his life in Australia. He faces deportation to Sweden despite not speaking Swedish or having Swedish kin who would give him a home.

Like Kertz, Nystrom never took Australian citizenship. Australia has recently taken a much tougher line with serial offenders who don't hold citizenship.

In 2005, Canberra sent convicted criminal Robert Jovicic to Belgrade, where he lived on the streets.

Jovicic, 38, was born in France to Serbian parents and emigrated to Australia as a 2-year-old. His permanent residency permit was revoked in 2003 after a string of offences committed to fund his heroin addiction.

After Serbia refused him citizenship, and he became an embarrassment because of his antics outside the Australian embassy, he was allowed to return to Australia. He has been told that if he doesn't apply for Serbian citizenship he will again be deported to Belgrade.

Jovicic qualifies for Serbian citizenship because both his parents were born in the country.

DPA

Subject: German news