The hunger strike by asylum seekers has entered its third day still with around 300 people not eating. By midday Saturday, a total of 25 people had collapsed or become weak enough to require treatment at the medical centre.
The Department of Immigration has failed to respond to the asylum seekers’ request for a meeting.
“We are growing increasingly concerned about the health and fate of the asylum seekers. It is increasingly urgent that the Minister intervenes. There is no excuse for delaying the processing of the asylum seekers in Nauru or in Australia,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.
“The Minister for Refugee Backflips, should make one more and admit that Pacific Solution 2.0 has failed. The punitive treatment of asylum seekers on Nauru is entirely gratuitous. Sending more asylum seekers to Nauru or Manus Island is wrose than pointless.
“He can save the lives of the asylum seekers on Nauru by intervening in the hunger strike. If such a hunger strike was happening in Australia, immigration officials would already be inside the detention centre. The facilities on Nauru simply cannot deal with the scale of the crisis unfolding.”
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
The statement issued by the Nauru Hunger Strikers, Saturday 3 November is pasted below.
Asylum seekers Nauru
To whom it may concern
To: The government of Australia and human rights organisations
There is a big difference between criminal and asylum seekers, but the Australian does not take care of the difference between asylums seekers of Nauru camp, Darwin and Curtin camp, are treated differently.
As a human being in this critical condition, we are not being given fair treatment , which affect us physically and mentally. This bitter reality torture us 24 hours means all days. In our home land we were in a danger of being tortured physically, but here we are facing mental tortured which are effecting us mentally.
All these sorrowful information have been provided to world through telephone, mails and email but haven’t been given any response.
Today we all got together to declare that we will continue our gathering until getting our rights. The following are our demands.
1) The most important appeal is that if Australian Government should give attention to our cases and take us back to Australia.
2) We request the Australia Government to visits us and see us in bad condition of our lives.
3) Close the Nauru detention center.
4) We accept Australia as a democratic country, where people are being treated equally and as a human being, we expect the same treatment.
At last we want to thanks people who help us …
