Vienna: Arigona Zogaj, who went underground to avoid forcing out to Serbia’s restive Kosovo province, will be permitted to complete the school year in Austria, said the Interior Minister Guenther Platter.
Arigona, 15, cannot stay longer than given period. She hid herself in September after her father and four siblings were expelled to Kosovo.
She released a video and a letter in which Arigona threatened to kill herself if her family was not reunited in Austria, but she re-appeared in early October at the side of a Roman Catholic priest in the hamlet of Ungenach.

After the announcement, Arigona appeared at a news conference with the priest but did not speak, however a newspaper reported that she had threatened to kill herself. Her lawyer said he would appeal the case.

Platter said that she could stay until the end of her school next year summer but her family didn’t meet the Austria’s criteria for residency on humanitarian grounds.

“I don’t want to stand in the way of the young woman’s education,” Platter said.

The ministry said the Zogaj family entered Austria in September 2002, “at a point in time where it was already clear that there was no chance for asylum,” as her father’s initial application for asylum was denied.