Photo credit: ABC News
A Tamil man, aged 23, Mano Yogalingam self-immolated last Tuesday in Noble Park. He died on Wednesday of his injuries in hospital.
Crikey reports that Yogalingam committed suicide following a 49-day protest in which he was a key organizer outside the Department of Home Affairs in Melbourne, Australia. They were asking for government intervention on behalf of thousands of asylum seekers in Australia.
Although previous governments had “fast track arrangements,” the asylum seekers have effectively been in limbo.
While the Albanese government abolished the fast-track system, it upheld the applications made under it. It included a rejected claim for refugee status from Yogalingam. He arrived by boat as a 12-year-old boy with his parents and four siblings in 2013. They were fleeing alleged military persecution.
He was on a temporary bridging visa while seeking to appeal the decision. He had spent over a decade in the country and did not know whether he would be deported.
Some of Australia’s immigration system, which has produced horrors many times, are:
Length of time Yogalingam spent on bridging visa: 11 years
Number of asylum seekers in Australia under these “fast-track arrangements”: 7,350
The average wait for a decision regarding a permanent protection visa (as of March 2023): 783 days
People detained for more than two years onshore as of May 2024: 236 (27% of the total detention population)
Of the above 236, the number of people detained for more than five years onshore as of May 2024: 74
Most asylum seeker arrivals by boat in Australia in a single year: 20,587 (2013)
Most asylum seeker applications in Germany: 700,000 approx. (2016)
Number of asylum seekers hosted by Iran: 3.8 million
Number of asylum seekers hosted by Colombia: 2.9 million
Number of asylum seekers hosted by Australia: 80,000 (in addition to 60,000 refugees)
Percentage of Australia’s population that asylum seekers and refugees comprise: 0.5%
Estimated cost since reopening Australia’s offshore processing centre in 2012: $12.1 billion
Average cost per annum of holding a person in immigration detention in 2019-20: $361,835
Average cost per annum of holding a person in residence determination (community detention) in 2019-20: $46,490
Estimated costs of the detention centre on Nauru according to a 2015 Senate committee: $645,726 per asylum seeker over the previous 11 months
Reported cost of detaining the 22 refugees and asylum seekers still on Nauru in 2023: $485 million
Number of asylum seekers that have died in Australia’s offshore detention (or following medical evacuation): 21
Youngest asylum seeker reported to have attempted suicide because of offshore detention: Five years old
