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Asylum-seekers end threat to plunge from Sydney roof
AFP - Wednesday, September 22
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Asylum-seekers end threat to plunge from Sydney roof
SYDNEY (AFP) - – A group of asylum-seekers threatening to leap from a Sydney detention centre ended their tense 29-hour standoff with authorities on Tuesday, the immigration department said.
Eight Sri Lankan Tamils left the top of the two-storey building at Villawood detention centre, which houses hundreds of asylum-seekers, by crane at 7:30pm (0930 GMT) after negotiations with the United Nations refugee agency, the department said.
They had threatened to jump from the roof if their cases were not reviewed -- originally setting a 5:00pm deadline for further action -- but immigration authorities said no promises of reviews had been made.
An Iraqi, one other man of unknown nationality and a ninth Tamil had left the roof hours earlier.
Bala Vigneswaran of the Australian Tamil Congress, who knows the men and has been in contact with them, said they feared torture if sent back to Sri Lanka and had threatened to jump "if the worst comes to the worst".
He said the protesters were deeply traumatised by the death on Monday of Fijian Josefa Rauluni, 36, who leaped from a roof in front of horrified onlookers shortly before he was due to be deported.
"Some of them talk about sacrifice for their brothers who are here, to show how committed they are and how worried they are about going back (to Sri Lanka)," Vigneswaran said.
TV footage showed protesters angrily remonstrating with negotiators as they teetered on the roof in windy conditions, while guards placed large blue cushions on the ground. Activists said four protesters deliberately slashed themselves.
Meanwhile, scores of demonstrators gathered outside the facility in the west of Sydney, and about 10 activists chained themselves up at the city's main immigration office in a show of support. Related article: Protest over death at Australian detention centre
Jamal Daoud, from the Social Justice Network, told reporters outside the centre that the men had been given reassurances they would not be penalised for protesting.
"There are no guarantees, but the UNHCR has said they will be more involved in their cases," he told the AAP news agency after the protest ended.
A spokesman for the Immigration Department said no special deals had been made with the detainees.
"We are pleased they have chosen to end their action without incident... options surrounding their visa applications were not part of the discussions," the statement said.
A further 16 Iranian and Kurdish asylum seekers on hunger strike inside the detention centre were reportedly hospitalised on Tuesday.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship confirmed the action was underway saying it was separate to the roof-top protest.
Australia has a policy of mandatory detention for asylum-seekers while their claims are processed, and generally holds detainees on remote Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.
But increasing numbers of illegal immigrants arriving by boat -- more than 4,000 this year -- have forced the reopening of mainland centres, including Villawood which houses about 300 people.
On Monday, Fijian Rauluni jumped from a different building at Villawood after earlier threatening suicide if sent back to the Pacific country while it remains under military rule.
"I would rather you put me on a raft and usher me down to the South Pole," he wrote in a letter dated a day earlier, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
"If you want to send me to Fiji, then send my dead body."
Activists said the incident had terrified fellow inmates, who are usually detained for months as their fate hangs in the balance.
"The first person I spoke to, he was a babbling mess and just ended up crying and wasn't able to say anything other than 'I saw it, I saw it, I saw it' and just kept bawling his eyes out," refugee advocate Brami Jagen told public broadcaster ABC.
Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor described the death as a "tragedy" and said private security firm SERCO would provide a full report.
Vigneswaran said the protesting Tamils had been in Australia for about a year after fleeing ethnic conflict in their home country, and that they feared torture and death if sent back.
The men reportedly refused food and water for more than 24 hours. Vigneswaran said their asylum claims were being processed.
Earlier this month, about 80 Afghan asylum-seekers broke out of a centre in the northern city of Darwin to protest over conditions after days of riots blamed on Indonesian people-smugglers held at the same facility.
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