Asylum seeker in Darwin detention centre ends hunger strike after 51 days
An Iranian asylum seeker in Darwin has ended a hunger strike after 51 days without food.
Last night the asylum seeker, who is being housed at Darwin's Wickham Point Detention Centre, told advocates he would begin to eat again, after being on a hunger strike since November 1.
The 33-year-old man's lawyer, John Lawrence, said the asylum seeker made the decision to end his protest after an appeal was lodged over the weekend in the Federal Circuit Court against an earlier decision to refuse him a refugee visa.
"We have discovered in the last week a procedure of appeal which was always open to him, which will now be pursued," he said.
Mr Lawrence has been the man's lawyer for around one week.
"It will be an appeal against the decision by the Independent Merits Review to refuse him a protection visa," Mr Lawrence said.
"His case will be argued before a federal judge, I would like to think within the next few weeks."
Mr Lawrence said the lodging of the appeal gave the man hope that his application for asylum might be approved.
But he noted, "it's far from guaranteed".
Asylum seeker was confined to wheelchair
The man had been refusing to eat for more than seven weeks and his lawyer said his condition had deteriorated rapidly over the past few days.
The man had given written instruction that he not be revived if he lost consciousness.
"Two days ago he hobbled into the interview room on crutches, today he entered the interview room on a wheelchair," Mr Lawrence said.
Mr Lawrence said the man was suffering from a range of physical ailments as a result of the hunger strike.
"His deterioration was manifesting in a very rapid way in the last 48 hours," he said.
He said the man was now eating supplement drinks and soup.
Mr Lawrence said the man felt he had no choice but to go on a hunger strike after the Refugee Review Tribunal rejected his application for a protection visa.
He said the only options he had were to return voluntarily to Iran or remain in detention indefinitely.
The asylum seeker was adamant in his belief that he would be killed if he returned to Iran voluntarily, Mr Lawrence said.
The Australian Government cannot force the man to return to Iran, as the Iranian government will not accept asylum seekers who are returned against their will, he said.
"The politics and the diplomacy at the moment prevent the Australian Government from returning him involuntarily, because the Iranian government won't accept him. So he was between a rock and a hard place, so to speak."
It will now be up to a federal judge to decide the outcome of the appeal, which Mr Lawrence said could take place within the coming weeks.
