Human Rights Watch has condemned Australia’s policy of holding asylum seekers in detention, which it says is reaching record levels. Asylum seekers in Australia are detained for an average of 689 days, the agency said.
The issue came to the fore after the detention of tennis player Novak Djokovic at an Australian hotel.
Activists say 32 asylum seekers are still being held at the hotel, which they say is a violation of human rights and “inhumane.”
Mr Djakovic was detained for five days at a Melbourne residence for refusing to be vaccinated against coronavirus, but unlike his temporary detention, a 24 year-old Iranian asylum seeker has been in the same hotel for two years. Spending days and nights with destiny.
Mehdi Ali, a member of Iran’s Ahwazi minority who sought refuge in Australia, said:
“The occupants of this building are in dire need of freedom.”
He was 15 years old when he fled to Australia and has been in detention for nine years.
He says some of the occupants of the hotel have had bitter experiences of detention, leading to suicidal thoughts.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) officials have criticized Australia’s policy of detaining asylum seekers, saying it was a new record for longest detentions in the West.
