Hundreds of Afghan asylum seekers are on hunger strike in an Australian detention center, activists said yesterday, after Kabul agreed Canberra could forcibly return failed asylum claimants.
Officials confirmed that a hunger strike was underway as part of peaceful protests in the remote northwest Curtin detention center involving up to 150 men, but said they had only been advised of a “small number” refusing food.
“At this stage a small number of detainees — 20 to 30 — have told the department they are engaging in voluntary starvation,” the spokeswoman said. “They are drinking water and food is available to them.”
Of the facility’s 1,100 detainees, the spokeswoman said just 400 attended Tuesday’s evening meal, though she stressed that “other available food has been taken.”
However, refugee advocates said as many as 1,000 detainees were taking part in the hunger strike at Curtin over the lengthy delays in processing their claims and the increasing rates of rejection.
Between 200 and 300 inmates were denying themselves food as part of their open protest at the center, while another 700 were staying in their rooms and refusing to eat, the Refugee Action Coalition’s Ian Rintoul said.
“There’s no question that there is a mass response,” he said. “There are 300 who are clearly on hunger strike and another 700 who are refusing the meals from the department.”
Reports this week have said that the mood in the center was darkening, with some asylum seekers waiting for months for answers to their refugee claims.
The immigration spokeswoman acknowledged that there was a “high volume of claims” and resolving them would take time, but she said detainees were treated with “care and dignity” and urged them to call off their protest.
She could not comment on whether the protest was linked to a new agreement with Kabul that allows Australia to forcibly return Afghans whose asylum claims fail, but said that such demonstrations would not alter the outcome of their cases.
“People found to be owed Australia’s protection will receive it; those found not to be refugees through our robust system of checks will be returned home, either voluntarily or through mechanisms like the new MOU [memorandum of understanding] with Afghanistan,” she said.
Since 2008, about 4,300 Afghans have arrived in Australia by boat, and about 2,700 of these remain in immigration detention.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was