'FREE' MAN IS STILL HELD AFTER THREE YEARS

The Australian, Friday 3 January 2003

by: Louise Milligan

Pham Thanh Cuc finished his Australian jail sentence for robbery three years ago, but unlike other prisoners who have done their time, he has not been relased.

Instead, despite winning parole, the former Australian resident spent two further years in jail and one in the "pressure cooker" that is Villawood detention centre.

He is awaiting deportation to Vietnam, but Vietnam will not take him.

Thang Ngo, a Fairfield City councillor from Sydney's west and high profile member of the city's Vietnamese community who has represented the Pham family since 2000, was worried in case Mr Pham had been involved in the disturbance.

Frantic phone calls revealed he had not been among the 20 detainees who set fire to the facility.

Mr Ngo condemns the rampage but empathises with the anger of detainees like Pham Thanh Cuc, who has educated himself in prison and is considered rehabilitated.

If he had taken up Australian citizenship, he could now return to his parents' home in Sydney.

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commissioner, Alice Tay recommended last year that Mr Pham and nine other detainees be immediately released pending deportation.

Mr Ngo said arbitrary detention of non-citizens after they finished their jail terms created immense frustration.