50 refugees sew lips in hunger strike

The Canberra Times 28.6.02

ADELAIDE: Fifty asylum-seekers at the Woomera detention centre had sewn their lips together as part of an ongoing hunger strike, a detainee said yesterday.
About 190 asylum-seekers including 15 children, aged between six and 12, and a pregnant woman, were refusing to eat at the centre in South Australia's north, detainee Ramzi Rihei said by telephone.
They have vowed to continue the hunger strike until they die.
Mr Rihei said children had chosen to take part in the hunger strike, which entered its fourth day yesterday, against the wishes of their parents. "The parents, they obligate the children to eat," Mr Rihei said. "But the problem is [the] children, they don't want to eat.
"There's a woman pregnant. We tried to ask her to eat and her husband said to her and some officers [said]: 'Please eat'. But she didn't. "She didn't want to eat. She wants to kill herself." He said the hunger strikers had started to feel weak.
The Immigration Department said yesterday 164 detainees, including 21 minors, were claiming to be on the hunger strike and did not attend dinner on Wednesday night. It said only four adult men had sewn their lips together.
But Mr Rihei said the department was playing down the scale of the hunger strike because "they want to cover everything up".
He said five detainees admitted to the Woomera hospital for self-harm injuries before the hunger strike were brought back to the detention centre at 11pm on Wednesday to prevent them from talking to the media.
SA Justice for Refugees chairman David Winderlich said a 37-year-old woman was among those moved from the hospital.
He said the woman had tried to commit suicide in the belief it would give her son a better chance of staying in Australia.
"Things are hotting up and the fear is [that] if nothing is done to improve the situation they [the detainees] will be driven to take greater action," Mr Winderlich said.
An Immigration Department spokesman said there were no reports of detainees receiving medical treatment or attending hospital because of the hunger strike.

Join one of these active organizations
and support refugees’ human rights

Flinders University ChilOut Group

Recently formed by Flinders university students, focusing to free the children from detention.
Contact: Constance Lever-Tracey: <Socl @ psy1.ssn.flinders.edu.au>.
 

Refugee Action Collective(South Australia)


Collective of groups and individuals supporting refugee rights.

Meets every Tuesday 6:00pm at Adelaide University Student Union Building .

Exchange information; Organise rallies and raise public awareness.

Contact: Sarah Hanson 8303-5182: <greengirl @sarah-coral.com>.

South Australians for Justice for Refugees

Organise rallies, lobby politicians, raise public awareness and also provides
humanitarian support to refugees. Can be joined with a small membership fee.
Contact: Serafina 8226-4118 <serafina@sacoss.org.au>.

Australian Refugee Association

Provides refugees with resettlement and humanitarian assistance,
Organise seminars to raise public awareness about refugees.
Contact: Director, Kevin Liston <refugee @australianrefugee.org.au>  

Amnesty International Australia

The International human rights group which has several members
within South Australia. AI in South Australia has a refugee team
dedicated to lobby politicians and to raise awareness about refugees.
Contact: Nina Boydell 8221-5979.<sant@amnesty.org.au>.

The Network for International Protection of Refugees

Formed since December 1998: Patron -- Sr.Janet Mead
Chair -- Rev'd Martin Chittleborough: Secretary -- Dr.U Ne Oo
Treasurer -- Mr.Salai Nilian: Executives -- Juan Garrido,Danny Connel,
Mary Secker, Tom McEvoy. The executive members meet on occasions. We lobby the governments in Asia-Pacific region and offer free membership to those willing to help lobby the governmemts
(mostly letter writing).