Australia caves in after refugee suicide pact
The Australian government has given in to demands from nine teenage refugees who had threatened suicide unless they were removed from a detention centre in the middle of the hot, dry, Australian bush.
The five Afghans and four Iraqis, aged 16 and 17, said they would kill themselves unless they were taken from the Woomera centre and placed in adequate accommodation.
The authorities agreed to the demands and are believed to have moved the youths to foster homes in Adelaide.
Another nine asylum seekers, all aged 18, have threatened to commit suicide tomorrow unless they receive similar treatment.
Hundreds of mostly Afghan refugees are currently on hunger strike in Woomera in protest at the Australian government’s delay in processing their asylum applications.
Some of the men, women and children being held in the prison-like detention camp have been there for years.
Detainees at other centres across Australia have also joined the hunger strike in solidarity with their fellow refugees in Woomera.
Australia has around 3,000 asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and southern Asia in five detention camps throughout the country.
The government has vowed to take a tough stance on refugees and recently began using its military to stop them from setting foot on Australian soil.
