"It's amazing that Novak Djokovic eats from the shit served to us," the refugees hope for recognition

The refugees who are being held at the Park Hotel hope to raise awareness of the difficult conditions and uncertainty in which they find themselves in the wake of the best tennis player in the world.

Mahdi Ali, who has been imprisoned for nine years in a number of facilities after fleeing Iran, said: "Just trying to survive every hour of this ** in this cage."

Walla!

sport

07/01/2022

Friday, 07 January 2022, 18:48 Updated: 19:05

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Summary: Sasha Zebrav against Novak Djokovic (Sport 1)

Until this week very few people have heard of the Park Hotel in Melbourne, which also serves as a detention facility for asylum seekers, some imprisoned there for months and some even over nine years.

That all changed when Novak Djokovic was sent there pending a court decision regarding his expulsion from Australia.

On Thursday afternoon, Australia time, a mass rally began outside the hotel as protesters, journalists and police arrived on the scene.

Many of the protesters waved signs and flags unrelated to the rights of asylum seekers, but of course called for the release of the best tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic.

More on Walla!

Not just Djokovic: A Czech tennis player was denied entry to Australia

To the full article

"What ??? Are you crazy ??? Imagine Djokovic sitting here and eating our food, you can not feed him this shit."

Mehdi (right) (Photo: Official website, from Twitter)

Mahdi, who is staying at the facility, spoke to VICE about the fact that the Serbian star was with him at the hotel and said: "When I woke up in the morning and people asked if Djokovic at the Park Hotel, I said: What ??? Are you crazy ??? Imagine Djokovic sitting here "And I'll eat our food, you can not feed him that shit. I thought if they sent him somewhere, it would be some penthouse or luxury hotel. Then I found out: Djokovic is here, imprisoned with me. The best tennis player of all time."

One of the protesters for Djokovic admitted: "I feel so ignorant. I came here for Djokovic and found out that there are people imprisoned here for nine years. It is not right."

"This hotel is dangerous for Corona," said an activist in the fight for refugee rights.

Djokovic fans outside the Park Hotel (Photo: GettyImages, Diego Fedele)

During the demonstrations dozens of refugees clung to the windows to understand what was going on outside. Mahdi received dozens of inquiries from journalists to talk about his situation and said: "Journalists do not even ask and do not care what I went through. I spoke on TV and in all their reporting they did not mention us even once. It hurts me because they are exploiting me. It was supposed to be the other way around, We wanted to take advantage of Djokovic's situation to raise awareness about us, we should not be used to raise awareness about him. "

Mahdi himself arrived in Australia from Indonesia on July 22, 2013, just three days after Australia announced a strict policy regarding asylum seekers arriving by ship. He fled Iran when he was 15 and left Indonesia by boat before being arrested by Australian authorities and taken to a detention facility on the island of Christmas, which is close to Indonesia. After 90 days, he was taken to a detention facility after Benauro, another island under Australian control, where he remained for six years before arriving in Australia in 2019.

He has since been transferred to many detention facilities in Australia, including the Park Hotel, where he has been staying since October.

He is 24 years old and has already spent 3,090 days in detention facilities, with no idea when he will be released if at all.

"I do not know anything," he says, "I do not know what will happen tomorrow, I do not know what will happen today. The whole thing is absurd. I have to live the moment and try to survive every fucking hour."

Djokovic fans call for his release (Photo: Reuters)

Survival was difficult for Mehdi, especially at the Nauru detention facility, which was defined as having cruel and extreme conditions by Amnesty. The conditions at the Park Hotel are also difficult, especially in light of the fact that the place was flooded in Corona and was defined by the staff and those staying there as an incubator of the virus.

A few days before Christmas part of the Park Hotel burned down and detainees complained that the food served to them was full of maggots and mold. "It's a cage," says Mahdi, "you are surrounded by walls and can not get out of here. They call it possession for an indefinite time, which means there is no deadline, no trial. You may be released tomorrow, maybe today and maybe in ten years. "The worst thing there is. If you are tried, you can at least plan your life. Four years, five years, three years, nine years - you know you will be released in the end."

Mahdi recounted reports and rumors over the years: "You think you're going to be released next week and then next week comes and you're still there. That you will probably never be released, that's where you belong. "

Djokovic at the airport (Photo: Reuters)

Mahdi claims that many of the prisoners he is dealing with have suicidal thoughts. In 2016 one of them burned himself to death in protest of the harsh conditions he had to endure in Nauru. Mahdi himself was diagnosed with anxiety and sleep problems. He spends his days reading, playing the guitar or walking on the hotel roof and smoking.

"I have to think about how to survive, every day anew," Mahdi says, "We don't survive anymore. We used to survive, now we're trying to survive. It's the only option we have." Mehdi very much hopes that Djokovic's arrest will draw attention to our interest: "My message to Mr. Djokovic is: You have been held in the same place as me for a day, two days, maybe three and you have experienced how it feels. There are people here who have been held in this hotel for years "In these rooms, who have been eating this food for years. They have not had access to fresh air for years. They are surrounded by walls for years. I hope you will do something, speak for us, raise awareness that you have a voice heard in the world."

Mehdi himself has meanwhile become a star on Twitter and garnered many tweets, among which he wrote: "So sad that a lot of journalists contacted me to ask him about Djokovic. I have been imprisoned in a cage for nine years, I am 24 years old today and everything they want to talk to me about "Pretend they care about me and then straight away ask me about Djokovic."

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