Vic: Buses arrive to take Kosovars to Sydney

AAP General News (Australia)
04-16-2000
Vic: Buses arrive to take Kosovars to Sydney

MELBOURNE, April 16 AAP - Most of the remaining Kosovars at Bandiana Army Base would
board buses for Sydney this morning, immigration officials said.

An immigration department spokesman said three buses had arrived at the base near the
New South Wales-Victoria border to take the refugees to Sydney for a flight back to their
homeland later today.

The federal government yesterday took nine Kosovar refugees refusing to leave Australia
into detention.

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said the nine had made it clear they would not
leave the country voluntarily by today's deadline.

Any more Kosovars who did not agree to leave by today would also be taken into detention,
he said.

About 30 Albanian Kosovars given temporary refuge in Australia to escape Serb violence
in their homeland were still refusing to return home yesterday.

The situation at Bandiana this morning was still "fairly fluid", but immigration officials
were confident more than 100 of the remaining 137 refugees there would decide to leave.

The buses were scheduled to depart from Bandiana at about 10.30am (AEST), the spokesman said.

Refugees who refused to leave would be flown from Albury to detention centres in Port
Hedland, Woomera or Curtin.

AAP sj/var/sk/lw

KEYWORD: KOSOVO AUST DAYLEAD (REPEAT)

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