Asylum seeker makes public appeal

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A 15-year-old Kosovan asylum seeker who threatened to kill herself unless her deported family was reunited in Austria has pleaded for their return.

Arigona Zogaj was speaking in her first public appearance since going into hiding shortly before her father and four siblings were deported last month.

Her mother was permitted to stay in Austria after Arigona disappeared.

The girl said her only goals were to go back to school, "learn hairdressing and live in Austria" with her family.

"We were always together," said the tearful teenager, while clutching a teddy bear.

During two weeks in hiding, Arigona was hidden by various people whom she refused to identify.

She has spent the last few days in the care of a Catholic priest in Upper Austria.

Nationwide uproar

Officials have now said she will not be deported before a constitutional court ruling due in two months' time.

The family's case has stirred an acrimonious debate in Austria over its asylum policy.

The Zogaj family had spent more than five years in Austria, and friends said they had settled well in the Upper Austrian village of Frankenburg.

"I speak only a little Albanian, I don't know anyone in Kosovo any more," said Arigona, speaking fluent German with an Austrian accent.

Anti-government demonstrations have been staged over the deportation of well-integrated foreigners who attempt to remain in the country illegally when their asylum applications are rejected.

The opposition Green Party argues the country's asylum laws must be changed, demanding a general "right to stay" for well-integrated foreigners.

President Heinz Fischer supports residency permits for families demanding asylum who have lived in Austria since January 2000, and Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer has described deportations as "horrible".

The Social Democratic Party, which heads the governing coalition, has backed a softer approach but Interior Minister Guenther Platter, from the party's conservative coalition allies, has insisted he will not give in to "blackmail".