By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania
PERTH, Australia — An Afghani asylum seeker is in a critical condition tonight after setting himself on fire at the Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre, located east of Perth. The Afghani asylum seeker managed to obtain gasoline and set himself on fire in Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Center after two previous attempts to take his own life.
The man, Ali Jaffari, has been left with burns covering up to 90 percent of his body after the incident.
The Refugee Action Coalition claim it’s the third time the man has tried to end his own life in six weeks, and say it defies belief that he was able to get the gasoline.
Spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition Ian Rintoul said the man had been held at Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre for about eight months. He went on to question how such an individual would have access to these materials given his prior history.
“How was he allowed to obtain the materials that allowed him to do this?” asked Mr. Rintoul. “Given his known mental state, he should not have been at Yongah Hill and he should not have been able to obtain flammable fluid. There’s simply been no adequate mental health treatment or proper care.”
Mr. Rintoul also commented on the detention of Mr. Jaffari, speculating on the mindset of Mr. Jaffari. “Given that he had been re-detained it was likely that he was simply facing an indefinite detention, and in those circumstances it seemed likely he had no future and no prospect of release,” Mr. Rintoul said.
The facility operator of Yongah Hill, Serco, has so far declined to comment on the matter.
Jaffari arrived in Australia in October 2010 on a boat he boarded in Indonesia. He was granted a permanent protection visa but had that cancelled in May 2014.
Jaffari was convicted of indecently assaulting two boys under the age of 16 at a Geelong swimming pool. It was reported to Yahoo! News that he fondled, kissed and cuddled the boys and joined one of them in the shower in November 2012.
While participating in a sex offenders’ program, Jaffari made admissions regarding accessing child exploitation material. A subsequent analysis of his computer revealed 27 images of child pornography, and he was charged and convicted of possessing those images. For both offences, Jaffari was sentenced to 3 months in jail, but had both prison terms suspended.
Last month, refugee advocates called for an inquiry into conditions at Yongah Hill, after the death of a 27-year-old Afghan detainee who was attacked in a brawl at the center.
The Refugee Action Coalition said the Afghan man had been held for three years, and may have died of a heart attack. Despite being sick for days and asking for medical assistance, he was only given paracetamol, the group claimed.
Soon after his death, angry detainees staged protests at the center, which was also the scene of a brawl involving 50 detainees earlier in July.
For more information, please see:
BBC News — Detainee sets himself on fire in Australian centre – 16 September 2015
Yahoo! News — Detainee sets himself on fire at Northam Detention Centre – 16 September 2015
