To those who have died needlessly as a result
of our inhumane detention regime
Salim Kyawning
52-year-old Rohingyan refugee
Died 22 May 2018
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Died in a motor vehicle incident on Manus Island ... suspected suicide ... leaves behind a wife and three children.
29-year-old Bangladeshi refugee
Died 2 November 2017
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Killed in a motorcycle accident on Nauru ... suspicious circumstances surrounding his death ... a Nauruan driver arrested the following day.
Rajeev Rajendran
32-year-old Sri Lankan Tamil refugee
Died 2 October 2017
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Rajeev was found dead on the grounds of the Lorengau hospital at Manus Island, his death an apparent suicide. He’d been sent to the hospital after a previous suicide attempt three days earlier. He had been acutely mentally ill for months.
Hamed Shamshiripour
31-year-old Iranian asylum seeker
Died 7 August 2017
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Hamed was found dead in the forest near the Australian-run East Lorengau refugee transit centre on Manus Island. PNG police have said that the cause of his death was suicide, however his family have demanded an autopsy and inquest to determine the cause of death. Hamed was known to have suffered from acute and worsening mental health issues.
Majid Hassanloo
39-year-old Iranian refugee
Died week beginning 3 July 2017
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Majid was found dead from a suspected drug overdose in the house he was minding in Sydney. He had been released from detention in December 2015 but was not offered adequate support. Majid was the older brother of Saeed Hassanloo who took his life in August last year.
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Faysal Ishak Ahmed
27-year-old Sudanese refugee
Died 23 December 2016
Died in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital, a day after being evacuated following “a fall and seizure” inside the Manus detention centre, where he had been held for over three years.
He had been sick for more than six months and other detainees had alerted the organisation responsible for care on the island, International Health and Medical Services (IHMS), to his situation, but little was done to help him.
Kamil Hussain
34-year-old Pakistani refugee
2 August 2016
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Drowned at a waterfall close to the town of Lorengau on Manus Island. He is understood to have slipped on a rock in the waterfall and to have struck his head.
Saeed Hassanloo
27-year-old Iranian asylum seeker
Died 27 August 2016
Jumped off the Tasman Bridge in Hobart, where he was living in the community on a SHEV visa. He’d spent six years in Australia, most of which was spent in six different detention centres. Wrongly charged of a crime and although innocent and later exonerated was never able to properly clear his name.
Mohammad Hadi
23-year-old Hazara asylum seeker
Died 6 June 2016
After three years of living in the community on a bridging visa without work or study rights and his mental health deteriorating, he hanged himself in a park in Western Sydney.
Rakib
26-year-old Bangladeshi refugee
Died 11 May 2016
Had been granted refugee status five months before his death and had been detained on Nauru. He took an overdose of tablets two days prior to his death
Omid Masoumali
23-year-old Iranian refugee
Died 29 April 2016
Set himself alight on Nauru during a visit by UN officials, died two days later in Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. Had been on Nauru with his wife for three years.
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Letter to Malcolm Turnbull
by Bev Holmes-Brown
From the Safe Asylum
Facebook page
29 April 2016
I have sad not misty eyes Mr Turnbull because Reza was murdered, his family mourn and you let the thugs go free.
Because Fazel's heart was broken beyond repair and sadness overwhelmed him till he could no longer communicate and ended his life.
Because Hamid died from a simple wound because of your regime of neglect.
Because Loghman lost the will to live aged 17 and you jailed him for trying to kill himself.
Because Joseph and others were beaten and dragged to jail where they slept in their own urine for weeks just for being part of a peaceful hungerstrike.
Because Mohammad had a bag put on his head and was punched and kicked by guards and thrown in solitary for getting angry.
Because Reza had his eye gouged out and another still has a bullet in his back.
Mohsen was hit on the head with a rock in Feb 2014 and still suffers pain & dizziness.
Because you feed my friends experimental malaria drugs that mess with their brains. Because you treat the sick in motels and give panadol for broken bones. Because you dumped Vahid in that hell when surgery prevented him from eating proper food. Because young 20 year old Ben just smashed his head into a wall because he is so depressed. Because you let stinking sewage run free for all this time. Because you dish up rotten food, and diarrhoea is a constant condition.
Because my friends who are proven refugees are cut off from their families back home, from medical help and denied the most basic luxuries so you can push them into PNG. Because my friend Mohsen has a deformed shoulder since your guard smashed his shield upon it in the riot. Because my sportsman friend dropped dead while playing soccer –bouts of malaria weakened his body. Because Mehrdad was brutally dragged to solitary for being upset when you took his phone (a lifeline). Because you denied my friends basic medical care, communication with the outside world, visitors, legal help...
You have beaten my friends; you employ racist thugs without hearts; you let your workers rape and abuse without punishment, you let your guards stomp heads without punishment, you employ medical staff who look the other way and ignore the advice of those who care; you legally gag doctors, nurses, teachers, psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors and others who call on you to end your cruelty.
You have overridden the will of the PNG people to the extent that many locals hate refugees and want them dead ... and you used our money to fund corruption.
Because prostitution has risen in Manus and families are told by pastors to lock up their daughters. Because you have made the name Manus a swear word and never cared that flooding a tiny community with bored cashed up white people would dramatically impact culture and prices.
I could add to this list all day – it will be a very long time before I and thousands of others stop crying Mr Turnbull – your cruelty has messed up our lives too.
You have already lost our vote but at least you can make yourself human again and begin to make amends for our national shame.
The boats never did stop!
From the Safe Asylum Facebook page
Fazel Chegeni
30-year-old Iranian Kurd
Died 8 November 2015
Escaped from the Christmas Island Detention Centre 6 November. His body was discovered 8 November by search and rescue teams at the bottom of island cliffs away from the centre.
Reza Alizadeh
26-year-old Iranian man
Died 27 October 2015
Hanged himself at Brisbane International Airport after months of suffering from depression and despair. He was living in the community on a bridging visa.
Khodayar Amini
30-year-old Hazara man
Died 18 October 2015
Self-immolated in a park in Dandenong - out of fear of being returned to immigration detention and then to Afghanistan where he believed he would be killed. Mr Amini was living in the community in Australia on a bridging visa and had been contacted by Australian immigration staff who wanted to interview him.
Ali Jaffari
37-year-old Hazara man
Died 17 September 2015
Self-immolated two days earlier, died in Fiona Stanley hospital Perth. Had previously been on suicide watch in Yongah Hills immigration detention centre, WA, following previous attempts on his life.
Mohammad Nasim Najafi
27-year-old Afghan man
Died 31 July 2015
Died of a suspected heart attack in Yongah Hill Detention Centre, Western Australia, amongst claims he had been denied medical treatment for two weeks.
Raza
Hazara man
Died 17 June 2015
Committed suicide in Perth by jumping in front of a train the day after being interviewed by police. His mental health had deteriorated after being on a bridging visa.
Omid Ali Avaz
29-year-old Iranian Kurd
Died 13 March 2015
Took his own life in Brisbane following a history of mental illness since learning of the death of his mother. Mr Avaz was on a 449 Humanitarian Stay Temporary Visa for 12 months in February and it is believed that he had concerns about his refugee status.
Hamid Kehazaei
24-year-old Iranian man
Died 3 September 2014
Declared brain dead after contracting cellulitis in remote Manus Island Immigration Detention Centre.
Leo Seemanpillai
29-year-old Sri Lankan man
Died 1 June 2014
Died as a result of self-immolation. He had been living in community detention on a bridging visa awaiting the outcome of his refugee claim.
Reza Barati
23-year-old Iranian man
Died 17 February 2014
Died of head injuries on the way to Lorengau hospital in PNG following protests at the Manus Island Immigration Detention Centre.
Rezene Mebrahta Engeda
30-year-old Eritrean man
Died 5 February 2014
Drowned himself in the Maribyrnong River upon notice of a failed asylum application and letter to attend a meeting with DIBP where he assumed he would be told of his pending deportation to Eritrea.