A 23-year-old Iranian refugee at the Nauru Detention Centre who set himself on fire has died, the Immigration Department has confirmed.
He was airlifted to Australia with third degree burns to most of his torso, but passed away this afternoon in a Brisbane hospital.
According to reports, the man’s name was Omid, and following a visit from the UNHCR on Wednesday, poured a 20-litre bottle of petrol over himself and cried: “This is how tired we are, this action will prove how exhausted we are. I cannot take it anymore.”
The refugee on Nauru who set himself on fire has died.
Another death attributable to this government— Julian Burnside (@JulianBurnside) April 29, 2016
Refugee advocates earlier criticised why it took 24 hours to medically evacuate the man, to which Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said: “Nauru is 4,500 kilometres from Australia, it is not as if we’re heading out to Bondi or Beenleigh to try and pick up somebody… it is a long distance travelled.”
The Immigration Department has expressed their sympathies to the victim’s wife, family and friends, and said “appropriate support” is being provided to his wife and friends.
Source / Photo: Fairfax.
