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Horrific: Worlds Men Tennis No 1; Novak Djokovic, Held In Refugee Hotel

Horrific: Worlds Men Tennis No 1; Novak Djokovic, Held In Refugee Hotel

World No 1 was detained at the border after he was denied entry into Australia on Thursday as authorities said he did not meet the country’s Covid vaccination requirements.

Novak Djokovic arrived in Melbourne after being granted a medical exemption from Covid-19 vaccination requirements to compete at the Australian Open but after spending more than eight hours detained at the airport, the Serbian’s visa was canceled and the player has now been moved to a quarantined hotel while his legal team launched an appeal.

The facility – used by the government to detain refugees and asylum seekers waiting for visas – has featured extensively in Australian media, in stories involving fires, Covid outbreaks, and allegedly maggots in meals.

The Park Hotel, previously known as Rydges on Swanston, describes itself as a “4.5-star hotel” set in the suburb of Carlton. Meanwhile, on the travel review site Tripadvisor, users have given the hotel an average of four stars.

Horrific: Worlds Men Tennis No 1; Novak Djokovic, Held In Refugee Hotel

While satisfied customers describe “fantastic, clean accommodation” with an “intimate charm”, there is also a sizeable amount of negative reviews.

Posts from less-than-impressed guests are titled “to be avoided at all costs”, “unclean, total rip off”. Many others take aim at The Park Hotel’s treatment of immigrant detainees, with one user labeling The Park Hotel as “a prison for refugees”.

Many refugees and asylum-seekers at the hotel have been transferred from Australia’s off-shore detention centers of Manus Island and Nauru.

Australian charity Asylum Seeker Resource Centre slammed poor quarantine conditions, delays in test results, and limited access to health professionals after 20 refugees and asylum seekers tested positive during a Covid outbreak last October.

Just last month, Australia’s SBS News published images that appear to show food given to the detainees containing maggots and mold.

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