Hunger strikers at Nauru

Asylum seekers in the Nauru Detention camp run by Australian Immigration Authorities have entered their second week of a hunger strike, with 36 people now participating. Immigration officials have not been seen at the camp since the strike started, and Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone has refused responsibility saying they "are not Australia's problem", despite Australia establishing the detention camp on the Pacific nation of Nauru as part of its 'Pacific Solution' of refugee and migration control. Amanda Vanstone was picketed Dec 18 by refugee activists in Melbourne.

[ Nauruwire.org | Flotillas of Hope | IMC Melbourne ]

Human rights advocates, psychiatrists have called for the immediate closure of the Nauru Detention Centre. Prominent lawyer Eric Vardalis has lodged a writ in the NSW Supreme Court for "false imprisonment" on behalf of the 325 detainees taken to Nauru by Australian authorities over the past two years. Two members of the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR have visited the camp: "They did nothing" according to an inmate. The Howard Government is demonising the asylum seekers for political purposes similar to the 'children overboard' fabrication in 2001.

Australia currently holds 94 children in Immigration Detention in Australia and 90 in Nauru. One of the most popular worldwide online petitions at the moment is 'To End Detention of Children and Separation of Families in Australia', with over 45,000 signatures.

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