The Queensland government has been urged to provide emergency housing for 25 medevac detainees released by federal authorities in Brisbane after years in immigration detention.
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The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre says 25 people brought to Australia for medical treatment under now-repealed medical evacuation laws have been released into the community.
It expects more will be let out of immigration detention facilities in Brisbane, Sydney and Darwin in coming days.
But the ASRC has warned those being freed are in precarious situations and need government support while they seek jobs to support themselves on six-month bridging visas.
State Greens MP Amy MacMahon said the men were "essentially being released into poverty".
"These men have unmet health needs, and insecure or no housing at all," she said on Monday.
"Without support, it'll be up to volunteers and community organisations to provide supports that the government really should be offering."
She plans to write to Queensland's Multicultural Affairs Minister Leanne Linard, asking the state government to step in and provide emergency housing and relief services.
The ASRC said detainees freed earlier this year from facilities in Melbourne received up to six weeks of support, including motel accommodation and income support payments, but that is due to soon run out.
"It is uncertain what support people now being released will receive. People on bridging visas are excluded from government safety nets of JobKeeper and JobSeeker," it said.
The Department of Home Affairs said final departure bridging visas issued to released detainees include the right to work and access Medicare.
The department said "short-term support", including help to link former detainees with essential services and accommodation, was on offer but it didn't say for how long.
It said the bridging visas were issued to allow detainees to finalise their medical care and were not a pathway to settle in Australia.
Detainees should then "continue on their resettlement pathway to the United States, return to Nauru or PNG, or return to their home country", the department said.
Ebrahim Obeiszadeh has been in detention for almost eight years and has told the ABC he'll be able to leave Brisbane's Kangaroo Central Hotel on Tuesday.
"The best part is that I won't see any security around me," Mr Obeiszadeh said.
Mr Obeiszadeh arrived in Australia by boat in 2013 after fleeing government persecution in Iran. He spent six years on Manus Island and was transferred to Australia in mid-2019.
But he's been at the Kangaroo Point hotel since August and feels like his looming release is bitter sweet.
"It's not because they like me or they are happy for me to be in Australia," he told the ABC.
Australian Associated Press
