Refugees in Melbourne Are Stuck in a Nightmare of Indefinite Detention and COVID-19 Infections
Since late 2020, the Australian government has indefinitely held 43 refugees in the Park Hotel in Carlton, Melbourne. This week, 19 tested positive for COVID-19. According to the detainees, the source could be any of the 20 security guards who refused vaccination.
A rally held on January 9, 2021, calling for the release of the refugees being detained at the Park Hotel in Melbourne, Australia. (Matt Hrkac / Flickr)
In the last week, nineteen refugees being held indefinitely by the Australian government at the Park Hotel in Melbourne have tested positive for COVID-19. Eight of the forty-three refugees in detention are, as of Friday, still awaiting their results. Two detainees have been hospitalized by the virus, and according to a statement made in Parliament by Greens senator Nick McKim, one was so ill that he needed an ambulance.
These refugees were brought to Australia from Nauru under the short-lived Medevac Bill passed in early 2019. The bill allowed critically ill refugees and people seeking asylum held in offshore detention centers to be transferred to Australia for medical treatment. Ahmed is one of the forty-three refugees being held in the Park Hotel, and like the others, he has remained in detention for the duration of the pandemic. He spoke to Jacobin about the source of the COVID-19 outbreak and the situation he and his friends are currently facing.
Anti-Vax Security Guards
“The reason we are in this terrible situation,” says Ahmed, is “because some of the guards refused to get the vaccine.” According to Ahmed, twenty security guards employed by Serco refused COVID-19 vaccination and were subsequently sacked.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.