Australia hunts Olympic overstayers

Sydney put on an impressive show for the Olympics

Immigration officials are hunting more than 100 people who have outstayed their visas after the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said 108 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and officials remained in the country.

We want them to go home

Immigration ministry spokesman

Australia used the games as an opportunity to promote itself to the world as a mature nation of self-reliant, sport-loving people.

More than 46,000 people were granted special visas for the Olympics and Paralympics, which allowed them to remain until 1 November last year.

Austrlia used the event to say G'day to the world

The spokesman said the overstayers came from 61 countries, with the biggest number - 11 - from the United States.

Eight members of the British team were also believed to be in the country still.

Representatives from Spain, Germany, Russia, Nigeria and Japan, along with others from Equatorial Guinea, Cuba and Gabon were also being sought, the spokesman said.

"It's across the board, but I think it's skewed mostly towards officials who have stayed on," Mr Ruddock's spokesman told AFP news agency.

"We want them to go home," he said.

Campaign

However, the spokesman said that given the huge number of people involved in the Games, the number who had outstayed their visa was relatively small.

The event was seen as one of the best-ever organised Olympics

"It's only around 0.2% of the total, so the non-return rate is still far lower than we have for the general tourist intake," he told AFP.

Meanwhile, the immigration minister is launching an international campaign to stem the increasing tide of illegal immigrants landing in Australia.

After a surge in illegal immigration to Australia via Indonesia, Mr Ruddock will tour the Middle East in the hope of scaring away potential asylum seekers.