3 Dec 2012

Iranian asylum seeker on Nauru transferred to local hospital

11:38 am on 3 December 2012

The Australian Refugee Coalition says a 35 year-old asylum seeker on Nauru has been taken from the detention camp to the hospital.

Jamal, an Ahwazi Iranian has been on a hunger strike for 28 days, and for the last few days has been refusing water.

The Coalition says it's believed he has kidney failure.

The Coalition's Ian Rintoul says before he left the camp, Jamal repeated he was taking the action to close the Nauru detention camp.

He says there is a another asylum seeker at the camp who has refused food for 32 days.

And he says Kurdish asylum seeker Omid who is now in a Brisbane hospital after being evacuated from Nauru on Friday, has been on a hunger strike for 52 days.

Ian Rintoul says there are around 25 asylum seekers on hunger strike on Nauru, after another five began refusing food following Omid's transfer to the Brisbane hospital.

He says there have also been several more incidents of self-harm.

He also says there are 170 asylum seekers at the camp who still maintain their boycott of entry interviews.

Ian Rintoul says the desperate conditions on Nauru are going from bad to worse.

He says Australia's Immigration Minister does not care for those sent to Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.