Woomera Detention
Detainees at Woomera go on hunger strike
Australian doctors recount their experiences of working with Afghan asylum seekers in Woomera Detention Centre, where lawyers claim the total number of detainees on hunger strike to be 370.
Authorities put the number of hunger strikers, including men, women and children, at 259: all detainees at the Woomera Detention Centre. Lawyers representing the detainees claim the number is more like 370. Afghan youths are threatening suicide unless they are removed from Woomera. Despite the mounting pressure, neither PM John Howard nor Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock show any signs of backing down. Visiting paediatric registrar Annie Sparrow says she has "never seen so many depressed and traumatised and disturbed children as I have in the two weeks that I spent there just now. I saw a 16-year-old who attempted to hang himself and a 14-year-old girl who cut her wrists and I saw another 14-year-old boy who tried to choke himself."
Produced by ABC Australia
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