Ruddock defiant

By Ian Henderson, Rebecca DiGirolamo and Benjamin Haslem

21jan02

The Australian

IMMIGRATION Minister Philip Ruddock is defying escalating mass protests at the Woomera refugee detention centre, after three teenage boys who had sewn their lips together as part of a hunger strike were taken to hospital to have the stitches removed.

As protesters warn they will not back down from actions that have intensified during the past six days from threats of self-mutilation, to stone throwing, a hunger strike and then lip-sewing, Mr Ruddock could soon be forced to endorse the force-feeding of hunger strikers.

The minister yesterday acknowledged the situation at Woomera remained tense and difficult, but rejected demands that he intervene personally to speed up the processing of asylum-seekers' applications for protection visas.

"I'm not going to interfere in the process," he said.

"Every time people gain an impression that inappropriate behaviour produces advantageous outcomes, that leads to more inappropriate behaviour."

He also dismissed calls by Australian Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja for his resignation, saying "I certainly don't think (the situation) reflects on my administration".

The three boys at the centre of the latest protest - aged 12, 14 and 15 - were returned to Woomera yesterday after doctors removed stitches from their lips that had prevented them from eating.

The hunger strike, involving as many as 700 of the 870 asylum-seekers at the camp, centres on demands by people of Afghan background who want to draw attention to conditions at Woomera and to press for speedier visa decisions in their favour.

An Immigration Department spokeswoman said the boys, all from Afghanistan, had cotton stitches removed at Woomera Community Hospital on Saturday night after suffering dehydration.

They were returned to the detention centre after voluntarily consuming food and fluids.

The spokeswoman said a male detainee was also being held for observation at the Woomera hospital last night after swallowing a small amount of disinfectant on Saturday night.

She confirmed 140 detainees were refusing to eat yesterday afternoon and 70 had sewn their lips together.

"The majority of them have one stitch in the corner of their mouth and in some ways is symbolic," a spokesman for Mr Ruddock said.

"The minister has made it clear that he will not allow people to die from the action they are undertaking now."

Lawyer Paul Boylan, who represents several asylum-seekers, said detainees had been sitting outside in 40C heat, angry over visa delays and living conditions at the Woomera centre.

He said the latest hunger strike centred on a government moratorium on processing visa applications from Afghan asylum-seekers.

"They are in limbo. They are not being processed and the conditions are foul - it's hot, there's very little privacy and there's nothing to do all day long," he said.

But Mr Ruddock claimed the latest protests stemmed from what the Afghani asylum-seekers regarded as inconsistencies in the processing of their visa applications.

Many Afghanis failed to appreciate that the recent change of government in their home country meant they might no longer be regarded by Australian authorities as genuine refugees.

"Most of the people who might have got up three or so months ago might not get a protection visa today," he said.

Senator Stott Despoja said the latest troubles were the last straw in a long-running farce. "Any prison minister who had this level of ongoing disruption in their jails would have been sacked long ago," she said.

Labor immigration spokeswoman Julia Gillard said said an independent team of doctors should be allowed into the detention centre to report on the condition of detainees.