Refugee resettled in US after 9 yrs in Aus
Tara Cosoleto |
Iranian refugee Mehdi Ali has been resettled in the United States after nearly nine years in Australian detention.
The 24-year-old, who in January drew national attention to the plight of refugees and asylum seekers in Melbourne’s Park Hotel, shared the news on Twitter.
“I am free and leaving Australia to start my life in the United States of America,” he wrote.
“But I won’t be happy until all my friends are get released from detention. It’s not freedom until we are all free.”
Ali, who fled Iran as a 15-year-old, has been detained in Nauru, Brisbane, and Melbourne’s Park Hotel over the past nine years.
He has spoken about the harsh conditions of detention on social media, describing his experience as torture.
Ali’s story gained national attention in January when tennis world No. 1 Novak Djokovic was briefly detained at the Park Hotel.
Djokovic was ultimately deported on the eve of the Australian Open after the Federal Court upheld the immigration minister’s decision to cancel his visa.
AAP
