Refugee couple taken from hotel prison under cover of darkness to return to Nauru

A REFUGEE couple has been spirited out of the Darwin hotel that has been their prison for the past year under the cover of darkness after opting to go back to Nauru.

A group of 15 refugees have been detained in a Darwin hotel for the past 12 months. Picture: Che Chorley

A REFUGEE couple has been spirited out of the Darwin hotel that has been their prison for the past year under the cover of darkness after opting to go back to Nauru.

A supporter of the Sri Lankan couple, who didn’t want to be named, said a small group had held a night-long vigil outside the Mercure Darwin Airport Resort, but the pair had been ushered out of the front gate - out of sight of the crowd - between 5am and 6am

“There was a bit of a decoy by the guards - they took them out the front gate of the Mercure so the group didn’t see them leaving,” she said.

The couple’s supporter said she understood they had been told to pack their bags on Sunday night to be ready to leave before sun up on Monday.

She said they had only decided to return to their accommodation on Nauru, which was an old phosphate mine, “because the situation at the Mercure is so awful”.

“At least they’ve got some freedom of movement around the place (there),” she said.

She said the couple had come to Australia for medical treatment which had not been forthcoming and should not be forced to suffer the indignity of being handcuffed as they left.

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“Handcuffs are only meant to be used if people are dangerous or violent, which this couple certainly aren’t,” she said.