Calls to boycott Mercure over NT refugees | Katherine Times

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Social advocates have called for a boycott of an international hotel chain over its role in housing detained refugees in the Northern Territory. The NT Council of Social Service says 15 refugees have been held for a year behind wire fences in a compound at the Mercure Darwin Airport Resort. It wants travellers to steer clear of Accor’s Mercure hotel chain, which also provides the majority of the refugees’ meals and other services, according to to activists. “It is a difficult economic time, particularly for our tourism and hotel industries, so a call to boycott the Mercure does not come lightly,” chief executive Deborah Di Natale said on Tuesday. “But the 15 refugees in…