Djokovic draws renewed attention to Australia’s ‘detention hotels’

Djokovic was detained Thursday in Melbourne after Australia denied him entry to the country, rejecting his case for a medical exemption from a coronavirus vaccine requirement. The visa drama has put a spotlight on Australia’s strict covid-19 policies and its long-standing use of detention hotels, some of which have been repurposed for quarantine purposes.

The Park Hotel is most associated with immigrants seeking visas to remain in Australia, some of whom have stayed in the building for years. About 50 refugees are being held now, according to Australia’s 9 News.

Rights advocates who denounced the living conditions in which refugees have been detained have made the hotel the focal point of protests. Dozens of demonstrators gathered there in October, demanding the release of refugees after a coronavirus outbreak in the hotel. Sixteen refugees had tested positive at the time, the Refugee Action Coalition told SBS News.

“This is reckless indifference to the lives refugee’s situation. Our concern is that the rest of the refugees are not safe inside the hotel. It’s a sealed incubator and they can’t open the windows,” Refugee Action Collective spokesman Chris Breen told SBS News.

Asylum seekers there have reported being served maggot-infested food. A fire broke out last month.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused Australia of “mistreatment” and “harassment” toward Djokovic and said the “whole of Serbia” is standing behind him. Prime Minister Ana Brnabic told Sky News Thursday the athlete should be allowed to leave the hotel where he’s been detained and move to a house his team rented in Melbourne, which is equipped with a tennis court.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison denied that Djokovic has been targeted and said he “won’t be treated any different to anyone else.”

“There should be no special rules for Novak Djokovic,” he said Wednesday at a news conference in Canberra.

Australia has implemented one of the strictest policies to contain the coronavirus, imposing border closures that left many Australian nationals stranded abroad.