{"id":2167,"date":"2016-04-27T18:51:30","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T23:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/?p=2167"},"modified":"2016-04-27T18:52:11","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T23:52:11","slug":"iranian-refugee-to-australia-sets-himself-on-fire-on-nauru-during-un-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/2167\/","title":{"rendered":"Iranian refugee to Australia sets himself on fire on Nauru during UN visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

SYDNEY<\/strong>– An Iranian refugee set himself on fire Wednesday during a visit by UN officials to Nauru, Canberra said, with four others reportedly attempting suicide.
\nImmigration Minister Peter Dutton revealed the 23-year-old would be air-lifted from the Pacific island to hospital in Australia, but made clear that if he survived and recovered he would be sent back.
\n‘I can inform you that there was a 23-year-old male who had originally come from Iran, by boat, was on Nauru and outside of the detention centre, in fact in one of the settlement areas, had set himself alight, self-immolated this morning,’ he told a press conference.
\n‘He\u2019s in a very serious condition and the plan is to provide an air-lift for him later tonight but he is in a very, very serious condition and his outlook is not good at all.’
\nAccording to\u00a0 the Guardian Australia, a man has suffered life-threatening burns after setting himself on fire, at a refugee settlement site in Nauru, in front of representatives of the UNHCR.
\nThe governments of Australia and of Nauru \u2013 which recently began convicting people for attempting suicide \u2013 in response warned others against what they described as acts of \u201cpolitical protest\u201d.
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

A screengrab of the 23-year-old Iranian man soaked in liquid, who set himself on fire during a UN visit on Nauru.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Video footage of the incident, seen by Guardian Australia, shows the 23-year-old Iranian man soaked in liquid, standing in a clearing and shouting to the people around him.
\nThere were claims the video of the protests showed UN representatives on the other side of a fence. In it people shout \u201cUN help us\u201d and \u201cABF shame on you\u201d.
\nThe man who self-immolated has been identified as Omid, a recognised refugee from Iran. Omid turned 23 last December and is married.
\nAccording to one witness, Omid said: \u201cThis is how tired we are, this action will prove how exhausted we are. I cannot take it anymore.\u201d
\nIn the footage Omid then sets himself on fire. Amid screams from onlookers he flees but is chased by a group of people who tackle him to the ground and smother the flames with sheets and remove his burning and melted clothing. There are extensive burns across his body and head but he is clearly alive and conscious.
\nHe has been taken to the Republic of Nauru hospital but medical evacuation to Australia is being considered, but the Australian immigration minister said his outlook is \u201cnot good at all\u201d.
\nPeter Dutton said Omid was in a very serious condition and an airlift that night was planned. \u201cBut his outlook is not good at all.\u201d
\nDutton confirmed that a number of other people – believed to be five – attempted to self-harm on Wednesday night and one on Wednesday morning.
\nDutton said that Australia\u2019s policy was unchanged, and that if people were brought to Australia for medical assistance, they would be returned to Nauru \u201conce that medical assistance has been provided\u201d.
\n\u201cIf people think that through actions of self harm or harming a member of their family that that is going to result in them coming to Australia and then staying here permanently, then again I repeat the message that is not going to be the outcome.\u201d
\nTwo Iranian women have also been missing from the island since Sunday. There are fears they have drowned.
\nThe Nauruan government gave no condolences, and labelled Omid\u2019s act \u201ca political protest to coincide with the visit by representatives from UNHCR\u201d.
\n\u201cUnfortunately we have seen protests like this during high-profile visits, as some from within the refugee community try and influence the Australian government\u2019s offshore processing policies.\u201d
\nThe witness to Omid\u2019s act said the man had met with representatives of the United Nations <\/a> High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday morning, who were on the island to interview asylum seekers and refugees. They have also been inspecting the Manus Island offshore centre. According to reports from detainees at both places, the focus has been largely on the mental health of detainees.
\nAccording to advocates, UN representatives on Nauru also witnessed another long-running detainee protest \u2013 now in its 39th consecutive day. Many have reported feeling they were prevented from meeting with UN representatives, or told there was nothing that could be done to help them.
\nThere were claims the video of the protests showed UN representatives on the other side of a fence but this has not been confirmed. In it people shout \u201cUN help us\u201d and \u201cABF shame on you\u201d.
\nCatherine Stubberfield, spokesperson for UNHCR\u2019s Regional Representation in Canberra, told Guardian Australia that UNHCR representatives were undertaking a monitoring mission of conditions on Nauru for asylum seekers and refugees transferred from Australia.
\n\u201cA particular focus of the mission is the seriously deteriorated mental health of the transferred asylum-seekers and refugees. UNHCR staff were at the refugee settlement site when an incident occurred that resulted in a refugee sustaining extensive burns to his body.
\n\u201cUNHCR remains concerned about the grave mental health status of the asylum-seekers and refugees. Comprehensive measures are required as a matter of urgency to prevent further unnecessary suffering and address ongoing mental health deterioration.\u201d
\nA letter written and signed by refugees and asylum seekers on Sunday pleaded for the Australian people to help.
\n\u201cWe are wondering why our lives were saved in the ocean, if we died in the sea it would be wonderful because we can\u2019t cope with these inhuman actions,\u201d it said.
\n\u201cYour government took our joy, they took our hope, dreams and locked us up inside the fence.\u201d
\nCanberra sends asylum-seekers who attempt to enter the country by boat to remote processing centres in Papua New Guinea or Nauru, with no hope of being settled in Australia.
\nThe policy has been heavily criticised internationally, including by the UN, and in October Nauru\u2019s Regional Processing Centre was converted into an ‘open centre’, giving its inhabitants freedom of movement.
\nThe Refugee Action Coalition, an activist group, said four others attempted suicide on Tuesday evening by drinking washing powder and were being treated by medical staff on the island.
\nCanberra has long defended its policy of denying asylum-seekers resettlement in Australia, saying it has prevented deaths at sea and secured the nation\u2019s borders. Rights groups have long criticised the policy and conditions in the camps.
\nSource: AFP, Guardian Australia, 27 APRIL 2016<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SYDNEY– An Iranian refugee set himself on fire Wednesday during a visit by UN officials to Nauru, Canberra said, with four others reportedly attempting suicide. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-human-rights","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2167"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2170,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167\/revisions\/2170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}