An increasing number of Greeks who visit Australia as tourists are detained and deported by Australian authorities upon their arrival in various airports, despite the fact that they are holders of tourist visas.
Only last week in Melbourne, Neos Kosmos received a request for assistance from two Greek citizens visiting Australia on a tourist visa. Our newspaper, as well as the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria and the Consulate General of Greece, made representations on behalf of the two Greek citizens who were detained. Unfortunately they were both deported back to Greece, because they could not convince the Australian authorities that they were genuine tourists.
The Department of Immigration investigated the two tourists on arrival who were initially granted a three month tourism visa to visit Australia. The aim of the particular investigation, which is a standard procedure for Australian authorities, was to determine whether or not they had a return flight back to Greece, adequate money for their stay while in Australia and a clearly stated and specific travel itinerary.
Our two compatriots failed to convince officials that they were indeed visiting Australia as tourists. One was put on the first flight back to Greece and the other was detained at Broadmeadows before his eventual deportation.
As reported by Neos Kosmos last year, authorities at Melbourne’s international airport alone detained 29 Greek passport-holders between July 2011 and June 2012, compared to just three in the previous 12-month period.
With official unemployment figures in Greece of 27 per cent as the economic crisis bites deeper, the number of Greeks travelling abroad in search of an alternative life by any means, in countries such as Australia, increases.
People visiting Australia on a tourist visa should have a specifically dated return ticket, adequate money to support their trip to Australia and accommodation details that can be verified by immigration officials on demand.