Month: May 2016

11.05.16: Today is day 53 of ongoing peaceful protests by refugee families detained in the RPC3 compound at the Australian government’s inhumane offshore refugee detention center on Nauru. Refugees from other compounds at the center and asylum seekers who have been forcibly ‘resettled’ in the Nauru community have also been joining the daily protests for some time now.

A banner is being displayed by the refugees that says ‘WHAT’S HAPPENED WITH HODAN?”, in reference to the young refugee woman who self-immolated on May 2nd and was air-lifted in an extremely serious condition to a hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Hodan’s current condition is shrouded in secrecy, and her comrades on Nauru are extremely worried about her.

Refugees on Nauru protesting after a Omid took his own life last month

Tragically, a 24 year-old  refugee from Bangladesh has died on Nauru .

Rakhib, died after taking an overdose of tablets, including a large amount of Panadol.

Their refugee application was processed about five months ago and they have been living in a refugee camp since then.

The official Immigration report says they  died of heart failure, but omits to mention the overdose which is almost certainly the underlying reason for the heart failure.

Doctors4Refugees made a statement when sharing a link to the Australian Border Force release.

26 [sic] year olds very rarely die from heart problems and ‘heart failure’ is anyway not a diagnosis. Being in Australian offshore detention on Nauru or Manus Island is evidently an extremely high risk undertaking.

This poor man’s death must be thoroughly investigated, but there is no transparency in Australian…

Refugee Action Coalition
MEDIA RELEASE

Police take the young man into custody

While refugees on Nauru are mourning the suicide death of Omid, another young man has attempted self immolation in RCP1.

Yesterday afternoon at 6pm Nauruan time the 20 year old known as Milad doused himself with petrol but was arrested before he could follow through with the act.

He is known to have mental health issues, as do many if not all of the refugees on the 22km square island, which is being used by Australia as a human dumping ground as part of its refugee policies

This is at least the sixth suicide attempt in the last week.

A Somali woman also attempted self immolation but she was also prevented from doing do by onlookers.

Instead of providing mental health care to those who attempt to take their own lives Nauru has charged some of them using an outdated law which…

28.04.16: Vigil by refugee solidarity activists outside the RBWH hospital in Brisbane, Australia for Nauru detainee Omid who is being treated at the hospital. Omid self-immolated on 27.04.16 and is in a life-threatening condition with burns to over 80% of his body. 

28.04.16: For 40 days now refugee families detained in the RPC3 compound at the Australian government’s offshore refugee detention center on Nauru have been staging daily protests against the conditions of their detention and to demand that they be granted asylum in Australia. On 14.04.16. the protesting refugees wrote an open letter to the people of Australia calling on them to take action and protest in solidarity with them. The response from people in Australia has been fairly muted – some small protests and solidarity actions by small but dedicated groups of refugee solidarity activists have taken place but nothing on a large scale as of yet. The…