Novak Djokovic arrived back in Belgrade, Serbia after losing a court challenge against the Australian government’s decision to cancel his visa on public health and order grounds.
Under Australian law, Djokovic can be banned from the country for three years, though Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews hasn’t ruled out an exemption. “Any application will be reviewed on its merits,” she said.
Australia is not alone in banning entry to unvaccinated travelers who are unable to prove why they can’t be inoculated, but it’s the first to take on such a high-profile target.
The Australian government has promoted vaccination as a way out of the pandemic — and more than 92% of people over the age of 16 are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
After Sunday’s hearing the government cast Djokovic’s ejection as a triumph for ordinary Australians over non-citizens who try to flout the rules.
“The idea that someone could come and not follow those rules was just not on,” Morrison told local radio Monday.
But some lawyers say the government’s decision to bar entry to someone who they fear might pose a risk sets a “dangerous precedent” by banning people because of their past comments or an assumption that they plan to cause trouble.
Meanwhile, refugee advocates fear Djokovic’s departure will take the attention away from the people still living with consequences of the government’s immigration policies — the refugees inside the detention facility where he stayed.
A superstar in detention
Australia was among the first countries to shut its borders in March 2020 as Covid spread.
Many Australian citizens were locked out by flight caps on passengers, as a procession of celebrities somehow found a way in. As the country started reopening in December, new rules were imposed requiring all new arrivals to be double vaccinated — unless they had a valid medical exemption.
So when Djokovic landed in Melbourne on January 5 and claimed he couldn’t be vaccinated due to a past Covid-19 infection,…
Source : cnn
