Asylum seeker dies from self-inflicted burns

Refugees breakout from the Woomera Detention Center, encouraged by protestors, in Woomera, Australia in 2002. Rick Rycroft / Press Association. All rights reserved.A 23-year-old
Iranian asylum seeker who
set himself on fire at an Australian offshore detention centre on the remote Pacific island of Nauru has died from his
injuries. The man, known as Omid, who set himself on fire earlier this
week was airlifted to Brisbane Hospital in Australia. He died almost 24 hours
due to severe burns to his torso after arriving at the Royal Brisbane Hospital.  He was initially taken to Nauru Hospital after
the act of self-immolation while officials from the United Nations refugee
agency were visiting the island. The
Department of Immigration and Border Protection confirmed his death.

"A
23-year-old Iranian man who set himself on fire in Nauru has tragically died
today from his injuries. Appropriate support is being provided to his wife and
friends," stated a press release from the department.

"The
Department expresses its sympathies to his wife, family and friends. The death
will be reported to the Queensland Coroner. No further comment will be made at
this time."

Human Rights campaigner Aurora Adams said Omid had been in
detention for three years.

"All he wanted was a future and a place to rebuild his
life," Adams was quoted in a statement from Community action group Get Up.
Get Up has staged protests outside Department of Immigration offices and in
public areas calling for asylum seekers and refugees in offshore detention to
be returned to Australia.

The Refugee Action Coalition has blamed the Australian
government and their offshore detention system, saying they were responsible
for Omid's death. Australia deports asylum seekers it intercepts in its waters
for processing at offshore locations, including Nauru and Manus Island in Papua
New Guinea.

Australia has earned a
global reputation for having a tough approach towards refugees.

Earlier in
February, the Australian High Court ruled that the government's controversial
policy of detaining asylum seekers offshore is constitutionally and legally
valid.  The case was brought by an anonymous Bangladeshi woman who was detained in Nauru after trying to enter Australia
illegally by boat. She came to Australia, while pregnant, for medical treatment
and later gave birth to her daughter there. She tried to stop the government sending
her back to an offshore refugee camp in January 2014.

The High Court dismissed her case in a
six-to-one ruling, arguing that the government’s policy does not violate the
Australian constitution and that deporting
the refugees back to Nauru was in line with the country's policy.

Omid’s death comes
at a time when the offshore processing centre on Manus Island is threatened
with closure. Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that the
detention of asylum seekers was unconstitutional and illegal.

Australian and Papua New Guinean officials are holding talks
next week to discuss the fate of around 850 asylum seekers and refugees
detained on Manus Island. The Papuan New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill
said that the detention centre on Manus Island must shut down after the Supreme
Court’s ruling. 

However, the incumbent Australian Prime Minister Malcolm
Turnbull has repeatedly said that the asylum seekers from Manus Island cannot
return to Australia. Turnbull supports the tough stance taken by his
predecessor Tony Abbott on unauthorised asylum seeker arrivals.

He has also struck
out the possibility of sending detainees to New Zealand, which offered earlier
this year to take some of the refugees Australia refused to settle.

In contrast, five
MPs from the opposition Labour party have declared that they do not support
Australia's asylum seeker policy. The controversial asylum seeker policy has
seen bipartisan support from the opposition Labour party and the ruling
coalition.

Labour MP Melissa
Park was quoted in an online article on Fairfax
Media that the offshore processing policy was "a sick game that needs
to end". "It's inevitable that the government will need to have
another plan for what is going to happen, and the most logical thing to do is
to bring those people to Australia," said Park.

Canberra has come
under fire for its offshore detention policy, but has refused to budge on the
matter.