Max Hatzoglou
Brimbank mayor Jasmine Nguyen has called for asylum seekers to be released from Melbourne hotels where they are being held in immigration detention and resettled in the community.
At the 15 March meeting, Councillor Nguyen made a passionate plea for the approximately 60 refugees to be released so they can live “freely and peacefully“ in the community.
“Council intends to write to the Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for Immigration advocating for the release of approximately 60 people from closed immigration facilities, including The Park Hotel in Carlton,” Cr Nguyen said.
“These people were transferred to Australia from Papua New Guinea and Nauru and despite being granted refugee status, many have spent much of the past eight and a half years in some form of closed detention.”
The media spotlight was turned on The Park Hotel, one of the hotels being used to house asylum seekers, in January when Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic was held there for five days before being deported because of his vaccination status.
A number of refugees in The Park Hotel have been detained there for far longer, some for multiple years.
Cr Nguyen said she hoped the remaining asylum seekers could be resettled in the western suburbs.
“Brimbank will offer to work with external agencies to support those refugees and people seeking asylum upon release, to live freely and peacefully in our community,” she said.
As a ‘Refugee Welcome Zone’, Brimbank has committed itself to welcoming refugees into the community and providing a safe haven.
The commitment also includes a pledge to uphold the human rights of refugees, demonstrate compassion and enhance cultural and religious diversity in the community.
Refugee Welcome Zones is an initiative of the Refugee Council of Australia, the national umbrella body for refugees and people seeking asylum and those who support them.
