AN immigration detainee at Sydney's Holsworthy Army Barracks has tried to commit suicide by swallowing razor blades, a refugee advocate said. An immigration department spokesman today said a detainee had been taken to hospital but declined to give details. "I can confirm a detainee has been taken to hospital and is being treated there," the spokesman said without elaborating.Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Mark Goudkamp told about 80 protesters outside the Villawood detention centre, in Sydney's west, one of the detainees temporarily housed at Holsworthy had tried to commit suicide. "One of the Chinese detainees at Holsworthy has just attempted to commit suicide by swallowing razor blades," Mr Goudkamp said. "So it is clear that the mental illness inducing conditions that exist here at Villawood also exist out there at Holsworthy."
The 160 detainees at Holsworthy are among 260 temporarily relocated after asbestos was found at Villawood. Police this morning closed off streets surrounding the Villawood detention centre in Sydney's west as the protesters marched to the gate from a nearby park about 11am (AEST) without incident.
A line of riot police are standing shoulder-to-shoulder across the entrance within metres of the protesters as they began chanting slogans and delivering speeches. No arrests have been made.
A large police contingent – including mounted police – is on hand to monitor the protest and they say any illegal behaviour will be swiftly dealt with. The activists, some of whom camped in a park near the Villawood detention centre overnight, were protesting the federal Government's decision to process offshore all asylum seekers who arrive by boat.
Mark Goudkamp, a spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition, said the federal Government's tough new immigration laws would turn the country into "fortress Australia". "We are not take this decision, to lock up any future asylum seekers overseas, lying down," Mr Goudkamp said.
Another Refugee Action Coalition spokesman, Alex Leszczynski, said today's protest, on Easter Saturday, one of Christianity's holiest days, was religiously symbolic. "For those Christians out there, they should realise it is against Christian values to lock people up who have committed absolutely no crime," Mr Leszczynski said. "They should also realise that this government does not represent Christian values.
"It is opposed to everything Christianity stands for – equality and love for all your fellow human beings."
| Well then, ship the refugees back to Indonesia. |