By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia — Nearly half of the asylum-seekers being held in an Australian detention center on the Pacific island of Nauru began a hunger strike on Thursday, protesting the conditions at the facility.

Of the nearly 400 people held at the center, the Australian Department of Immigration said at least 170 have stopped eating their meals and refused their water.

“This is a clear message that we are not happy here,” the protesters wrote in a statement addressed to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the Nauru government, human rights commissions, and the international community.

“We want to go back from this hell to Australia, and we request to the Australian government to start our processing,” the statement continued.

Australian immigration authorities embraced tough new offshore processing policies earlier this year, including the reopening of the Nauru detention center.  The policies have sparked criticism and concern from Australian and international human rights organizations about the treatment of people seeking asylum.

Earlier this week, the Australian government approved increasing the capacity at the Nauru facility to 1,500 people.  Current detainees are kept in tents, and advocates have reported conditions there as hot and unbearable.

Asylum-seekers claimed their Internet access was cut off on Thursday as a way of censoring their access to human rights supporters and the media.  But authorities said that was untrue.

“It is well known that on Nauru, there are Internet service problems,” an Immigration Department spokesperson told the Sydney Morning Herald.

But the Australian Human Rights Commission said there was reason for the public to be concerned about the detainees’ health and well-being.

“Asylum-seekers have been left with no idea when their claims will be processed and what will be their ultimate fate,” said Ian Rintoul, a refugee advocate.  “They have no choice but to protest.”

Yet while the uncertainty caused some asylum-seekers to begin a hunger strike, it prompted others to, at least temporarily, give up on their immigration hopes.  Six detainees chose to leave the Nauru detention center and return to their home country this week.  They marked the first Iraqi and Iranian nationals to voluntarily give up their asylum claims.  More than 80 people have chosen to return to their home country since the new Australian immigration policies took effect in August.

But that has not caused Australia to reverse course regarding new immigrants.

“People arrive by boat will be sent to Nauru and Papua-New Guinea,” an immigration spokesperson said.

For further information, please see:

ABC Radio Australia — Australian Human Rights Commission Concern for Nauru Hunger Strikers — 2 November 2012

The Sydney Morning Herald — Asylum Seekers on Hunger Strike — 2 November 2012

The Sydney Morning Herald — ‘Unhappy’ Asylum Seekers on Hunger Strike — 2 November 2012

Fraser Coast Chronicle — Asylum Seekers Voluntarily Leave Nauru to Go Home — 1 November 2012

Green Left — Refugees Tell Gillard Nauru Is ‘The Worst Condition of Our Lives’ — 1 November 2012