Park Hotel Detainees Call Out Scott Morrison For Lying About Their Refugee Status
“It’s an outright lie to say that these people are not refugees."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been called out after wrongly claiming that the people currently held in Melbourne’s Park Hotel detention are not recognised as refugees.
The detention hotel was thrust into the public eye when world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic was detained there prior to his deportation this week. But while Djokovic was in and out of the hotel within the week, the same cannot be said for everyone else detention at the Park Hotel, some of which have been there for almost nine years.
However, in an interview with 2GB on Monday, Morrison rejected the idea that the people in detention are refugees. “Well, the specific cases, Ben, I mean, it’s not clear that to my information that someone in that case is actually a refugee,” he said. “They may have sought asylum and been found not to be a refugee and have chosen not to return, and…that happens in this country, people aren’t found to be refugees and they won’t return.”
According to The Guardian, 25 people in detention at the Park Hotel are considered refugees, while an additional seven are asylum seekers. Two detainees at the Park Hotel have since taken to social media to condemn Morrison’s comments. Both Mehdi Ali and Adnan Choopani have been granted genuine refugee status, but both remain in indefinite detention regardless.
“If I’m not a refugee, why would I endure such a difficult time as a child if I have the option to go back to where I came from? Even then, I’m not safe in detention either,” Ali wrote.
I came to Australia asking for safety when I was just 15 years old.
Now I am 24 and still in detention.
If I'm not a refugee, why would I endure such a difficult time as a child if I have the option to go back to where I came from? Even then, I'm not safe in detention either. pic.twitter.com/yrFMWt9AyR— Mehdi Ali (@MehdiAli98) January 17, 2022
Mehdi fled Iran as a 15-year-old back in 2013. He has since spent nine birthdays in detention — either at an offshore processing centre like PNG or Nauru, or in immigration detention in Australia.
Choopani, whose refugee status has been recognised by the United Nations, called Morrison a liar and asserted he was trying to confuse the public.
“Mr Morrison is a liar, and now he is going to lie about my status. I have been recognised refugee by the UN and I still held in detention,” he wrote. “What Scott Morrison is saying is designed to confuse people.”
Mr Morrison is a liar, and now he is going to lie about my status. I have been recognised refugee by the #UN and I still held in detention. What Scott Morrison is saying is designed to confuse people. I don't think people will be confused when the election comes. pic.twitter.com/U2Vek3Pmzt
— Adnan Choopani (@AdnanChoopani) January 17, 2022
Mehdi and Adnan’s claims have been backed by the Australian director of Human Rights Watch Elaine Pearson, who told The Guardian that Morrison’s comment is a lie.
“It’s an outright lie to say that these people are not refugees when most of them have had their refugee status formally recognised for years,” Pearson said. “They’ve been through that process and it is established that they simply can’t return to their country.”