20 Apr 2016

Fear of another Nauru attempted suicide charge

5:51 pm on 20 April 2016

Refugee advocates in Australia are concerned that another refugee will be charged with attempted suicide after Nauru police arrested a 38 year-old Iranian refugee.

The Iranian refugee had reportedly splashed himself with petrol and set himself alight before neighbours intervened with a fire extinguisher.

Fire-fighters and police attended the incident, with police arresting the man and taking him to the police station.

Fellow refugees and advocates are concerned that the Iranian man will be charged with attempted suicide as a result of the incident.

Self-harm by refugees reported on Nauru

Self-harm by refugees reported on Nauru Photo: supplied

Last week, another Iranian refugee pleaded guilty to the charge, which is recognised as a crime in Nauru.

The latest incident comes as protests continue over delays in processing applications by those held by Canberra for more than 1000 days.

Access to Nauru is heavily restricted, with media representatives required to pay $US5000 as a non-refundable visa application fee.

One foreign journalist, from The Australian, has been admitted since Nauru hiked the visa fee 40-fold two years ago.

It is not known if that journalist was charged the visa application fee.

Senate backs call for tabling of contract

Meanwhile, the Australian Senate is backing a Greens motion ordering the government to table all contracts that it holds with Wilson Security.

The company provides security at the Australian detention camps on Nauru and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, as well as in Australia.

The motion calls for any information relating to the due diligence process undertaken before those contracts were awarded to be revealed.

Greens' senator Sarah Hanson-Young said there was a major shadow hanging over the government's dealings with Wilson Security.

She said the Australian people deserved to know just how many millions of dollars had been pumped into the company that had links to offshore tax havens and the infamous Hong Kong billionaires, the Kwok brothers.