CALGARY - Hoping to avoid being deported back to Canada, a former Calgary man is on a hunger strike while being held at an immigration detention centre in Australia.

Ziad Chebib, 55, moved to Australia with his wife and three children in 2000 and got a three-year business visa to start a home building company.

Once his first project was finished -- a $285,000 home near Melbourne -- Chebib moved into it, which Australian officials said was in violation of his visa.

Chebib appealed and was given a two-year extension to get his business running, but was unable to because of unforseen medical problems with his son, who he said was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and attention deficit disorder after suffering a back injury at work.

When that visa expired in 2005, Chebib again appealed, this time on compassionate grounds.

That appeal was rejected and Chebib was taken into custody Thursday when he started his hunger strike.

"No solid food whatsoever," he said from a detention centre near Melbourne.

"The only thing coming through my body is water and one cup of coffee a day to give me strength and keep me awake."

Officials are moving to deport Chebib back to Calgary in the next five to seven days.

"I'm trying to keep my family together in one country, under one roof. This is our home, where our roots are."

DAVE.DORMER@SUNMEDIA.CA