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PRIME Minister John Howard today apologised after an Australian woman was wrongly deported to the Philippines, leaving her nine-year-old son in foster care for four years. His apology came amid fresh claims the woman, who remains missing, told Philippines consulate staff before being deported in 2001 that she had been held captive as a sex slave in Queensland. The woman, who used the names Vivian Alvarez and Vivian Wilson, has a young son in foster care in Queensland, Premier Peter Beattie revealed today. Mr Howard said he was sorry if anything unfair had happened to the woman, who was deported to the Philippines in late 2001 after New South Wales and Queensland Police failed to realise she was listed as missing. "I am very sorry if anything unfairly has happened in relation to that," the Prime Minister said on Southern Cross radio. "On the face of it that does appear to be the case." As the Federal Government remained tightlipped about its investigations into the woman's whereabouts, Mr Beattie told reporters she had a nine-year-old son in foster care in Queensland. He called for a judicial inquiry into the woman's disappearance and the scandal surrounding Cornelia Rau, the mentally ill Australian woman who was locked up as an illegal immigrant for 10 months. "We've now got two cases and I think it should be the subject of a full and open judicial inquiry," the premier said. He said the woman's son was taken into care after she failed to collect him from the Brisbane City Hall child care facility on February 16, 2001. The Queensland Department of Family Services reported her missing to police on July 17, 2001, and the two names she used were listed on the state's Missing Persons Register. Mr Beattie said the woman went to a NSW hospital to seek treatment some months after July, but used a different name and told staff she had applied for citizenship. "Hospital staff alerted the federal immigration department who interviewed her and could not find any details or records in relation to her arrival in Australia," he said. "Three days later, the Department of Immigration brought her to Coolangatta and arranged for Queensland Police to escort her under deportation to the Philippines." The woman is believed to have been born in the Philippines, where she apparently married an Australian man with the surname Wilson. The Government has extended its closed-door investigation into Ms Rau's detention to include the case of the missing woman. A spokesman for Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said the Government had been in contact with the woman's family, who said they did not want their details publicly released. Meanwhile, members of Australia's Filipino community are trying to help trace the missing woman. "It's very concerning and disturbing for us ... even given that we have a lot of networks in the Philippines including the Philippine Government, it may be quite difficult tracking down what happened to the woman," Melba Marginson, of the Centre for Philippine Concerns Australia, said on ABC radio. AAP (6-5-2005) Belinda Tasker/ Jane Nelson |
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