ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Dozens of asylum seekers at an Australian Outback detention center have begun a hunger strike over plans to return them to their homelands, an activist said Monday.
The strikers at the Woomera camp were being monitored by medical staff but all appeared to be in good health, an Immigration Department spokesman said. Their nationalities were not known.
Several other asylum seekers who were not participating in the strike had asked to be moved away from those refusing food, he added. About 213 people are currently being held at Woomera.
“Food continues to be available to the detainees,” the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
The spokesman said 70 people were involved in the strike. However, a refugee advocate camped near the detention center, which lies on the edge of the desert some 870 miles from Sydney, said 200 asylum seekers were taking part.
Dave McKay said the members of the group were upset when officials told them they would be returned to their homelands within weeks. “This is really a last ditch stand, they are pretty desperate,” McKay said.
McKay said some asylum seekers started the hunger strike Sunday, but most began after they missed breakfast Monday.
Hundreds of boat people seeking asylum in Australia — most of them from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Sri Lanka — are being held in five detention camps across the country while their applications for refugee status are considered. The process can take years.
Earlier this month, the United Nations slammed Australia’s mandatory detention of asylum seekers and said refugees were treated worse than criminals because they aren’t told how long they will be held.
