Medevac asylum seekers detained in a Melbourne hotel for months

Dozens of refugees and asylum seekers evacuated from Papua New Guinea under the medevac transfer system have been detained for months in a hotel in Melbourne's suburban north.

More than 45 men, formerly held in the Manus Island centre, are now confined to one floor of the $180-a-night Mantra on Bell in Preston, which is off limits to other guests and patrolled by private security guards.

More than 40 men brought to Australia under medevac laws are being locked up in hotel rooms at the Mantra hotel in Preston.Credit: Jason South

The future of these men remains uncertain after the repeal of the medevac laws, with Border Force refusing to rule out sending them back to PNG, while refugee advocates have held demonstrations outside the Mantra, claiming that detention in the hotel did not provide sufficient access to open space or medical care.

Australian Border Force, the federal government agency responsible for the detention, would not say why the men are in a hotel rather than hospital, or how long they will remain at the Bell Street address. Most have been found to be refugees, although 15 have had their asylum claims rejected.

The first group of men arrived at the Mantra on July 25, brought to Australia under the medevac laws, which allowed sick asylum seekers and refugees to be transferred to Australia for treatment on the recommendation of an expert medical panel.

Those laws were repealed this month by the government, which argued the system weakened Australia's offshore detention system and set a "very low bar" for asylum seekers to get to Australia from PNG or Nauru.

Border Force said the men had access to medical attention and refused to rule out sending them back to PNG.

"Once transferees no longer need to be in Australia for the temporary purpose for which they were brought [medical treatment], they are expected to return to a regional processing country," a Border Force spokesperson told The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Border Force spokesperson said the department "does not discuss individual cases, nor their medical treatment, for privacy reasons", but said all people in immigration detention have access to medical care "as required".

"Accommodation decisions are made on a case-by-case basis but, where appropriate, detainees may be placed in accommodation that is not within an immigration detention facility," the spokesperson said.

About 180 people transferred from Manus and Nauru under medevac provisions have been sent to hotels, apartments and detention facilities across the country.

The office of Immigration Minister David Coleman has not responded to inquiries about the men in the hotel.

Asylum seekers at the Mantra sleep two to three to a room, and are allowed to use the hotel's gym for two hours a day when other guests are banned from using the facilities.

Mantra guests are forbidden to use the gym for two hours a day, while medevac refugees are using the facilities.

The men can only go outside by applying to visit the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA) detention centre in Broadmeadows, where they can walk inside its fenced walls for short periods of time.

One of the men, 33-year-old "Moz" – a Kurd who asked for his full name not to be used because he feared persecution if he were returned to Iran – was transferred from Port Moresby 41 days ago.

"Everyone that is here is because of medevac and everyone has a different story," he said. "My problem, apart from mental problems, I have physical problems. I have asthma. I have [been] traumatised terribly ... I was beaten terribly. I have PTSD."

Moz was detained for 6½ years in Manus and Port Moresby. At Mantra, he says he spends 19 hours a day in his room.

"They say, 'you can go to MITA'. But when I go to MITA there are tall fences and wires and I feel the mental problems relapse for me."

Local federal Labor MP Ged Kearney said she had sought more information from the government about why the men were being kept in a motel in her electorate, but had been unable to get answers.

Refugees flown to Australia under the now-repealed medevac laws are being held in a Preston hotel room.Credit: Jason South

"There's very scant information about why they're there," Ms Kearney said.

Advocates say the isolation of the men in the motel is further endangering their mental and physical health, after years of detention on Manus Island and Port Moresby.

Refugee advocate Jane Salmon, who visited a detainee at Mantra on Monday, said while the men were classed as medevac outpatients, they were receiving only minimal medical care.

"Fresh air, long walks outside, fruit, dentistry [and] asthma medication all seem to be medical priorities," she said.

Advocates say some of the men are suffering from dental problems, including one who has been unable to eat solid food for 11 months because of his rotten teeth.

The Mantra is one of a suite of hotels acquired by French-based hotel giant Accor in a $1.2 billion deal last year.