Nine detainees released from immigration detention at Melbourne's Park Hotel

A total of 13 detainees have been released from Australian immigration detention, advocates say, including one other in Broadmeadows and three men in Brisbane.

Australia Open Djokovic Hotel

A protester holds a banner outside the Park Hotel calling for the release of refugees being detained inside the hotel in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, 8 January, 2022. Source: AAP, AP / Hamish Blair

Thirteen detainees have been released from immigration detention centres across Australia, refugees advocates say.

Nine men were released from the Park Hotel in Melbourne on Friday night, along with one other in Broadmeadows and three men in Brisbane.

The Refugee Action Collective said the men were not given a reason for their release, and most of them received a six-month bridging visa with no access to welfare and little support.
"They have been released to a cheap motel, on a long weekend, with almost no support," the RAC's Chris Breen said.

"After eight years in detention, they have been traumatised, institutionalised, denied education and the ability to work and gain skills.

"They should be granted permanent visas, compensated, and given full support, not dumped in the community to fend for themselves."

AAP understands the bridging visa allows a person to reside lawfully in the community while making arrangements to leave the country and does not provide a pathway to settlement in Australia.

There are still around 50 people detained nationally, including 18 men at Melbourne's Park Hotel and 10 at the Broadmeadows detention centre.

"It is increasingly cruel, arbitrary and absurd to continue to detain the remaining medevac refugees," Mr Breen said.

"They must be immediately freed."
The Australian Border Force declined to confirm whether any detainees had been released.

"The department does not comment on individual cases," the ABF said.

"Individuals released from immigration detention are provided transitional support through the Status Resolution Support Services program including case worker support, accommodation and financial assistance.

"The Australian government's policies have not changed and illegal maritime arrivals will not be settled in Australia."

It comes after another Park Hotel detainee, Iranian refugee Mehdi Ali, was resettled in the United States earlier this month after nine years in detention.
The Park Hotel gained national attention in January when tennis champion Novak Djokovic was briefly detained there.

Djokovic was ultimately deported on the eve of the Australian Open after the Federal Court upheld the immigration minister's decision to cancel his visa.

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Published 12 March 2022 12:56pm
Updated 12 March 2022 7:00pm
Source: AAP


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