A Sri Lankan man died in Australian immigration detention, officials said on Tuesday, with refugee advocates claiming he killed himself with poison after being refused permission to attend a Hindu festival.
The man died shortly after midnight at Sydney Immigration Residential Housing — a family compound adjacent to the Villawood detention center in western Sydney — after being found in a distressed state, officials said.
His death comes as leaders from 54 Commonwealth countries, including Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, arrive in Australia for a summit set to discuss the plight of asylum-seekers and other human-rights issues.
Refugee advocates said the man, an ethnic Tamil aged in his mid-20s, had been granted asylum in Australia several months ago, but was awaiting a background security check before he could be freed.
He had been in detention for over two years and had repeatedly requested permission to live in the community while his application was processed, according to Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition.
Rintoul said the man had taken poison after receiving a letter refusing him permission to be temporarily released to celebrate Diwali, the biggest festival in the Hindu calendar.
“Tragically, he had witnessed three other successful suicides in Villawood,” Rintoul said. “How absolutely tragic, but how telling, that an accepted refugee could feel despair enough to take their own life in a detention center.”
Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen confirmed the man had been accepted as a refugee, but authorities were reviewing whether he was a “risk to national security” and he was not considered a candidate for community release in the meantime.
“This was a long, involved, complex and protracted case,” he said.
Bowen said the man’s request to join a friend for Diwali celebrations had been refused and he had received counseling while in detention for trauma and torture.
Bowen could not comment on the claims of poisoning, saying the cause of death was a matter for police and “no doubt” a coronial inquest.
It is the seventh death in immigration detention in the past year. Australia’s top medical body warned last month that even children were attempting to take their own lives and self-harming in the riot-plagued centers.
The government has ordered an investigation into reports that incidents of self-harm have surged 12-fold in the past year as waiting times ballooned due to a surge in boatloads of asylum seekers.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of