Hunger Strike Detainees 'Unconscious'
from The Age (Melbourne)

Canberra -- A second hunger striker in Nauru has been rushed to hospital amid growing fears of fatalities among protesting asylum seekers, some of whom have sewn their lips together...

The Howard Government is continuing to ignore the protest, saying the strikers should return to Afghanistan and "get on with their lives"...

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees regional representative Michel Gabaudan questioned the rejection of some of the Nauru detainees' claims, saying some regions of Afghanistan were unsafe and other areas had deteriorated greatly in recent weeks. "The UNHCR is considering if some of those whose claims were rejected should be given refugee status," he said.

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Copyright 2003 The Age Company Limited
The Age (Melbourne)

December 15, 2003 Monday

SECTION: News; Pg. 1

LENGTH: 592 words

HEADLINE: Hunger Strike Detainees 'unconscious'

BYLINE: Mark Forbes,Foreign Affairs Correspondent

BODY:

Canberra -- A second hunger striker in Nauru has been rushed to hospital amid
growing fears of fatalities among protesting asylum seekers, some of whom have
sewn their lips together.

The Howard Government is continuing to ignore the protest, saying the
strikers should return to Afghanistan and "get on with their lives".

An Immigration Department spokesman said yesterday the group comprised
"failed asylum seekers who are engaged in voluntary starvation".

Three more Afghanis joined the hunger strike yesterday, swelling their
numbers to 24.

Almost half of the strikers were lapsing in and out of consciousness, said Cy
Winter, of the International Organisation for Migration, which administers the
two Nauru camps for Australia.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees regional representative Michel
Gabaudan questioned the rejection of some of the Nauru detainees' claims, saying
some regions of Afghanistan were unsafe and other areas had deteriorated greatly
in recent weeks. "The UNHCR is considering if some of those whose claims were
rejected should be given refugee status," he said.

Although an Immigration Department spokesman said events in Nauru were being
closely monitored, he was unaware a second hunger striker had been rushed to
hospital yesterday, or of the growing size of the protest.

The facilities on Nauru were "more than adequate in terms of both medical
persons and medical facilities," the spokesman said. "These people should be
under no illusion that by taking these actions they could influence the
Australian Government to take them to Australia," he said. "Blackmail will not
work."

A second man was taken to Nauru's hospital after falling unconscious. His
condition was described as stable. It is understood several others have refused
pleas to be hospitalised, saying they would rather die than return to
Afghanistan.

Mr Winter said nine men began a hunger strike on Tuesday, four with their
lips sown together. By Friday the numbers had grown to 21, and a further three
men joined yesterday.

The hunger strikers are refusing water and hospitalisation, where they could
be placed on intravenous drips, he said.

Medical staff were dipping towels in water and placing them over the strikers
' faces and bodies to keep them hydrated, Mr Winter said.

Under Australia's "Pacific Solution" 284 people, including 93 children, are
detained on Nauru. Many were rescued from a sinking fishing boat by the
freighter Tampa two years ago.

Rural Australians for Refugees spokeswoman Elaine Smith warned it was only a
matter of time before someone died. "These people think their lives will be lost
either way," Ms Smith said.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone was unavailable for comment.

Refugee advocacy group A Just Australia's national director Howard Glenn said
that "a dire, perhaps fatal, episode in the dreadful story that started with the
Tampa crisis" was being played out on Nauru. All the children and 90 per cent of
the adults would have proven refugee claims if there cases were heard in
Australia, he said.

* Five men being held in an isolation block at Port Hedland were continuing a
hunger strike they started on Thursday to protest against their treatment, the
United Church said.

INSIDE

'There are echoes of the crisis that engulfed Woomera . . . a crisis that was
resolved only after the Government's independent advisory group negotiated with
hunger strikers and warned darkly of a "human tragedy" of unknowable
proportions.'

-- MICHAEL GORDON NEWS 2

Love behind the wire A3

LOAD-DATE: December 14, 2003

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