00:00This hotel, located on the outskirts of Darwin CBD, describes itself as the city's best budget hotel,
00:09complete with a pool, bar and gym.
00:12But the ABC can reveal for the past few weeks it's been used to detain seven Indonesian men
00:17caught illegally fishing in Australian waters as they waited for their court hearing.
00:22There used to be immigration detention centres in Darwin that have now closed down
00:27and so they've got alternative places of detention and they've used the Frontier Hotel
00:31as one such alternative place of detention.
00:34It's the same controversial arrangement that's previously been used to detain refugees
00:39initially evacuated from Manus Island and Nauru to Australia for medical treatment.
00:44In this case the fishers were discovered after running into trouble in the dangerous swell
00:49and taking shelter in the mangroves of Melville Island north of Darwin.
00:53They came from conditions of extreme poverty with limited education.
00:57Their motivation was really just to earn an income.
01:00More than 240 foreign fishers have been prosecuted in Darwin local court this year,
01:05triple the number of the year prior.
01:07Border Force hasn't revealed how much the arrangement is costing taxpayers
01:11but said in general it would depend on the individual circumstances.
01:15The hotel is booked out until the end of next year
01:18but it's unclear exactly how long the arrangement will last
01:22and how many people are being detained here.
01:24Six of the fishers have been sent back to Indonesia
01:27with the remaining one to first spend a week in jail.
01:30Six of the fishers have been forced to fill.
01:34Two of the fishers have been ratified after a week.
01:38Six of the fishers have been cut out of the day
01:53and we've been on the first half of the fishers.
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