Novak Djokovic: refugees hope tennis star?s hotel detention will cast light on their ?torture?

Novak Djokovic's wrangling with authorities over entering Australia has inadvertently highlighted a different plight: those of the refugees and asylum seekers stuck for months, and years, at the Park Hotel.

The infamous detention hotel in Carlton, Melbourne, where the tennis star is likely to spend the weekend as he awaits a court hearing over his visa cancellation has been described by detainees as a "torture cell".

"There is no fresh air, there was recently a fire, the food is not great, we do not have access to a gym, the hotel is totally locked up," 38-year-old Jamal Mohamed tells Guardian Australia.

"I am suffering each and every day. I have nightmares every night, all I want is freedom. It's really terrible, I don't know one person here who feels good about it."

Mehdi, a refugee who has spent nine years in detention, told Guardian Australia: "There is a disappointment: everyone wants to ask me about Novak, what the hotel is like for him. But they don't ask about us: we have been locked up in this place for months, for years.

"I've never seen so many cameras, so much attention. I hope Novak Djokovic learns about our situation here, and I hope he speaks about it."

The Australian Border Force has been using Carlton's Park Hotel in Melbourne as an ad-hoc detention centre for refugees since December 2020.