A number of Avalon locals haven’t stopped helping Darko Desic, the 64-year-old prison escapee who turned himself in to police custody in September 2021, after being at large for almost three decades. After raising funds to help him rebuild a new life, locals joined a petition to keep him from being deported from Australia.
Read: Darko Desic Fundraiser for Prison Escapee Who Hid in Avalon Gains Over 400 Donors
Concerned local Anne Barrowclough started a Change.org petition to urge Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to prevent a deportation order from being placed on Mr Desic, and allow him to be released back into his community where he can live out his remaining years in safety and peace.
Ms Barrowclough emphasised that Mr Desic, who is more known to the locals as ‘Dougie,’ had not committed any crime whilst on the run. He worked as a cash-in-hand builder and handyman but became homeless due to the pandemic.
“Desic has nothing to return to in the former Yugoslavia, a place that has fractured since he left, and where ancient hatreds still splinter communities,” Ms Barrowclough said.
“In Australia, on the other hand, he has friends, a neighbourhood that loves him – and to which he has contributed much over the years – and the promise of employment and a home,” she said.
Impending Deportation
Mr Desic’s defence solicitor Paul McGirr revealed in October 2021 that the Australian Border Force (ABF) has sent a letter to Mr Desic advising him of deportation at the end of his sentence.
Ironically, he escaped jail in 1992 out of fear of being deported to Yugoslavia, where he could become a deserter or be put on the frontlines for the war. Mr Desic was spending 13 months out of his three-and-a-half-year sentence for cannabis cultivation when he broke out of the Grafton Correctional Centre 29 years ago.
Mr Desic’s legal team is now doing everything they can to stop the deportation. They vow to continue to fight for him, believing that he’s a loved member of the community.
Australia Detention Laws
Under the Migration Act 1958, Australian Border Force Officers must detain unlawful non-citizens. According to ABF, a person might be unlawful because:
- they arrived without a valid visa
- their visa was cancelled
- their visa has expired
Meanwhile, Ms Barrowclough reiterated that Mr Desic was granted residency in Australia more than a decade ago.
“Police told the media that Desic said he’d escaped because he feared being deported back to Yugoslavia, where he expected to face punishment for fleeing without completing compulsory military service. Police also said that, unbeknown to the fugitive, he’d been made an Australian citizen in 2008,” she revealed.
