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.
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>.