The recent controversy embroiling Novak Djokovic has shone an international spotlight on Australia’s detention of refugees.
Supporters of the Serb champion were outraged by his detention in substandard accommodation.
But Djokovic was not alone. The Park Hotel in Carlton, where the Serb was detained, has been used as a detention centre for refugees since December 2020.
It is believed just over 30 asylum-seekers are housed there and 25 have already been found to meet the legal definition of a refugee.
Many have been in detention for nine years. One of those long-term detainees was quoted recently as saying, “we’ve been held in a place that has no sunlight at all, no fresh air, nowhere to move and we spend 23 hours a day in a single room with no windows and we don’t know how long we will be kept here”.
Kerry Bull, secretary of Macedon Ranges Rural Australians for Refugees, said these men were not criminals, they had fled oppression and the threat of torture, only to find themselves oppressed once more, in the land they had hoped would be their safe haven.
“Australia should be a safe haven. We were one of the first countries to sign the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. It’s our obligation,” Kerry said.
Kerry and other members of her group are calling on Australians to support a Private Members Bill introduced into federal parliament by independent MP Andrew Wilkie.
The bill calls for the ending of the indefinite and arbitrary incarceration of refugees and asylum-seekers.
“We want everyone who believes in the idea of a fair go to get behind this bill and express their support through an email to migration@aph.gov.au,” Kerry said.
The email should make reference to the bill, which is called, ‘Ending Indefinite and Arbitrary Immigration Detention Bill 2021’.
Kerry urged all those wanting to help, not to delay.
“All that’s needed is a brief email stating who you are and why you believe that Australia’s inhumane and arbitrary detention of refugees and non-citizens must be brought to an immediate end,” she said.
“We’ve only got a couple of days until Friday January 28. So let’s get on and get this thing done.”
Anyone seeking more information can visit www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.au/rar-groups/online-group
