Hossein Latifi marked his 33rd birthday with unexpected news: he, along with 10 others, would be released from Melbourne's Park Hotel.
It ends a nine-year period in detention since he fled Iran seeking refuge in Australia as an asylum seeker boat arrival in 2013.
"I'm stuck between happiness and sadness, I don't know how to describe it," he told SBS News.
"But it's good to not see security (Australian Border Force guards) around me. I'm just looking forward to starting my new life."
During the pandemic, the Park Hotel was turned into a makeshift detention facility for asylum seekers and refugees who were medically evacuated from Australia's offshore detention centres and brought to Australia.
The venue was brought into the international spotlight in January when world tennis number one Novak Djokovic was detained there for five days in a dispute over the border entry vaccination requirements.
In total, at least 18 and as many as 20 have been released from immigration detention centres in Victoria, NSW and Queensland overnight.
Mr Latifi said no explanation was given on why he and the nine others from the Park Hotel were being released.
Detainees are seen inside the Park hotel quarantine facility on 6 January 2022. Credit: AAP
He said his worry now is for the eight people remaining at the Park Hotel.
"I want my friends to be released as soon as possible. We've been in this situation for almost nine years, so we have become like a big family. I hope they're going to release them as soon as possible."
The latest release of asylum seekers and refugees comes three weeks after 13 people were released from immigration detention in Melbourne and Brisbane.
The federal government said its policy on asylum seeker boat arrivals has not changed, even after it earlier this month accepted New Zealand's offer to resettle 450 refugees, which was first proposed in 2013.
The newly released asylum seekers and refugees are on bridging visas that will allow them to live in the community but with no ability to work, study or seek government services.
The Department of Home Affairs said the group will be provided with "transitional support through the Status Resolution Support Services program including caseworker support, accommodation and financial assistance".
Chris Breen from the Refugee Action Collective said that the support being offered to ease the transition is inadequate.
"These are people who have had no chance to work or build skills or study over the last nine years," he said.
"It's very difficult to find work — and to find any sort of permanent work — when you are on a six-month visa. There are also restrictions on their ability to study."
"They've been inside for nine years. They need to rebuild lives, they need permanency, and they need to be compensated for their time inside."
As for Mr Latifi, he said he does not know exactly what his future holds but he is determined to put the last nine years behind him.
"I have a dream and I'm going to make it because the situation I've been in for almost nine years has made me tougher than any [other] time [in my life].
"I'm so proud of myself to be just past these few years."
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said a total of 230 asylum seekers and refugees have been released from onshore detention centres since December 2020.
The centre is urging the release of more than 30 refugees who remain detained after they were medically evacuated to Australia from offshore detention centres.
