Novak Djokovic detention draws focus to Australia’s asylum-seekers

The
tennis
superstar
is
awaiting
court
proceedings
on
Monday
(January
10)
that
will
determine
whether
he
can
defend
his
Australian
Open
title
or
whether
he
will
be
deported
–
and
the
world
has
shown
keen
interest
in
his
temporary
accommodation.

His
fellow
residents
in
the
immigration
detention
hotel
include
refugees
and
asylum-seekers
who
are
challenging
their
own
proceedings
that
have
all
lasted
much
longer
than
Djokovic’s.
So
long
in
some
cases
they
feel
forgotten.

Djokovic’s
mere
presence
at
the
hotel,
a
squat
and
unattractive
building
on
the
leafy
fringe
of
the
city’s
downtown,
has
drawn
the
world’s
eyes
to
those
other
residents
and
their
ongoing
struggles
with
the
Australian
immigration
system.

Novak
Djokovic
visa
controversy:
Tennis
star’s
lawyers
say
he
was
Covid-19
infected
in
December

Refugee
activists
have
been
quick
to
capitalize
on
the
media
attention
as
one
of
the
world’s
most
feted
athletes
shares
the
hotel
and
its
sparse
amenities
with
some
of
the
world’s
most
vulnerable
and
dispossessed
people.

Djokovic
was
denied
entry
at
the
Melbourne
airport
late
Wednesday
(January
5)
after
border
officials
canceled
his
visa
for
failing
to
meet
its
entry
requirement
that
all
non-citizens
be
fully
vaccinated
for
COVID-19.

His
lawyers
filed
court
papers
Saturday
challenging
the
deportation
that
show
Djokovic
tested
positive
for
COVID-19
last
month
and
recovered,
grounds
he
used
in
applying
for
a
medical
exemption
to
the
country’s
strict
vaccination
rules.
A
decision
on
his
appeal
is
expected
Monday.

Renata
Voracova,
a
38-year-old
Czech
doubles
player,
was
detained
in
the
same
hotel
over
a
vaccine
dispute
before
leaving
Australia
on
Saturday
(January
8).

The
Park
Hotel
was
once
a
thriving
tourist
hotel,
popular
for
its
central
location
near
Melbourne’s
network
of
trams
and
across
the
road
from
the
home
ground
of
the
Carlton
Australian
Rules
Football
Club.

PTPA
issues
Djokovic
update,
back
world
number
one
to
compete
at
Australian
Open

But
for
the
past
two
years
it
has
often
been
referred
to
as
the
“notorious”
or
“infamous”
Park
Hotel.

At
the
outbreak
of
the
pandemic
it
was
a
quarantine
hotel
for
Australians
returning
from
overseas
and
reportedly
a
source
of
a
delta-variant
outbreak
that
swept
Melbourne
and
forced
the
city
into
months
of
lockdown
while
claiming
hundreds
of
lives.

More
recently
it
has
been
home
to
travelers
of
a
different
kind:
refugees
and
asylum-seekers
who
have
been
transferred
for
medical
reasons
from
Australia’s
off-shore
detention
centers
on
Manus
Island
and
Nauru
in
the
Pacific.

There
are
32
asylum-seekers
sharing
the
hotel
with
Djokovic.
Among
them
is
Mehdi
Ali
of
Iran
who
was
15
when
he
made
the
dangerous
journey
to
Australia
by
boat.

He
had
spent
the
past
nine
years
in
an
off-shore
processing
facility
for
asylum-seekers
and
refugees,
and
was
recently
moved
to
the
Park
Hotel,
where
armed
police
guard
the
entrance
and
residents
cannot
leave.

Mehdi
says
the
hotel
is
“like
a
jail”
with
its
lengthy
confinement,
lack
of
fresh
air
and
poor
food.
In
October,
a
COVID-19
outbreak
infected
more
than
half
of
the
hotel’s
then
46
residents.

In
December,
small
fires
broke
out
on
one
floor,
residents
were
evacuated
and
one
person
was
treated
for
smoke
inhalation.

Novak
Djokovic
denied
Australia
entry:
Tennis
world,
political
leaders
react
to
‘unusual’
step

Damage
caused
by
the
fires
affected
residents’
access
to
outdoor
exercise
areas,
and
asylum-seekers
frequently
complain
they
are
confined
to
their
rooms.
Refugee
advocates
regularly
protest
outside
the
hotel,
mostly
in
small
numbers
and
unnoticed
by
passersby.

Djokovic’s
sudden
arrival
has
energized
the
protesters
as
they
seek
to
draw
global
attention
to
the
asylum-seekers
and
their
treatment
in
Australia.

An
Amnesty
International
campaign
manager,
Shankar
Kasynathan,
was
among
several
groups
protesting
outside
the
Park
Hotel
on
Friday
(January
7).

One
large
group
of
Serbian-Australians
protested
Djokovic’s
detention
while
another
smaller
group
of
protesters
celebrated
his
opposition
to
vaccine
mandates.

“The
world
is
watching
at
this
point
because
we
have
one
of
the
world’s
most
celebrated
athletes
…
under
the
same
roof
as
the
world’s
most
vulnerable
people,
namely
refugees,” Kasynathan
said.

“We
hope
that
Novak
Djokovic
will
use
his
influence,
his
support
base
to
potentially
put
pressure
on
(Home
Affairs
Minister)
Karen
Andrews
and
the
Australian
government
to
end
this
senseless
cruelty,”
he
added.

Australia
first
introduced
offshore
processing
at
Manus
Island
in
Papua
New
Guinea
and
Nauru
in
2001
as
part
of
its
“Pacific
Solution”
to
asylum-seekers
and
refugees
attempting
to
reach
Australia
by
boat,
often
with
the
help
of
traffickers.

Offshore
processing
was
suspended
in
2008
but
resumed
in
August
2012.
Since
July
2013,
successive
Australian
governments
have
said
no
refugees
will
be
resettled
in
Australia
from
Nauru
or
Manus
Island.

By
mid-2021,
about
1,000
refugees
from
the
offshore
centers
had
been
resettled
in
other
countries,
including
more
than
900
in
the
United
States.

Many
in
the
offshore
centers
have
been
transferred
back
to
Australia
for
medical
reasons
and
have
been
detained
at
places
like
the
Park
Hotel.

Djokovic
will
be
granted
his
freedom
on
Monday
one
way
or
another.
If
his
legal
challenge
to
the
cancellation
of
his
visa
is
successful
he
will
be
able
to
defend
his
Australian
Open
title
next
month.
If
not,
he
will
have
to
return
home.

For
others
at
the
Park
Hotel
there
will
be
no
such
choice.
Their
wait
will
continue.