A Bengali refugee has attempted self-harm in the Park Hotel this afternoon, following the release of another 24 refugees from the hotel. Anxiety grew among the fourteen men left behind after the release of the refugees this morning that they would not be released and would be taken into detention in MITA.
The Bengali man’s increasing fear that he would not be released led him to attempt to self-harm.
Security guards at the hotel intervened to prevent the self-harm, but the man was forcibly restrained and has now been forcibly taken to MITA.
The Bengali refugee was among fourteen men at the hotel who were told yesterday that the Minister had not signed for their release, but were given no further explanation, or a timeline for a decision on their release.
The thirteen refugees left behind in the now deserted hotel, also now fear that they will also forcibly be taken to MITA, amidst uncertainty about their future.
Anxiety has also spread to other detention centres and hotels holding asylum seekers and refugees transferred under the Medevac laws.
“People in Villawood, Darwin, BITA and Kangaroo Point have all been left wondering when, or if, they will be released,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.
“Peter Dutton owes the guys left in detention an explanation,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition, “Are all the medevac refugees going to be released? Telling 2GB that it is cheaper for refugees to live in the community is not an explanation. If it is too expensive today, it was too expensive two years ago.
“Dutton should be sacked for his hopeless mishandling of the situation. He has known for a long time that these guys could not be sent back to PNG or Nauru and that they could not be sent to their home countries, but he has unlawfully held them for almost two years. The release of the Medevac refugees has exposed his wilful lies.
“Now the chaotic release is creating more confusion and anxiety among people who are owed Australia’s protection. Refugees are being offered a bridging visa and three week’s accommodation. They are being dumped into the community and expected to be self-sufficient in the middle of a pandemic after almost eight years of mental torture in Australian detention centres offshore and onshore.
“Dutton needs to announce the plans to release all the Medevac refugees. They should be released with the same conditions and support as refugees under the humanitarian program.
“It is a fiction that they are not being resettled in Australia. The government cannot hide that any longer. Dutton cannot send them anywhere. But they continue to be discriminated against because they were brought to Australia under the medevac laws.”
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
