简体中文
A man who set himself on fire near Sydney’s Central station was protesting the Department of Immigration, according to New South Wales police.
The man, aged around 30, doused himself in petrol and set himself alight on Lee Street near the department at 1.30pm on Friday.
Superintendent David Donohue could not confirm if the man was an asylum seeker or had been through the immigration system.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss what his issues were but he was protesting the Department of Immigration,” he said at a press conference.
Donohue said the man was “deeply disturbed and upset” and “would have killed himself” if police had not doused him with a fire extinguisher. He is being treated for superficial burns to his thighs, and his mental health is being assessed in hospital.
Police negotiated with the man for eight to 10 minutes before he set himself alight, Donohue said.
“On police arrival, they saw the male covering himself in petrol. Police responded quickly, entered into negotiations with the gentleman and shortly thereafter he set himself on fire.”
“I’m not aware of the actual dialogue between the officers,” he said.
NSW police could not confirm whether the man had been inside the Department of Immigration building before he set himself alight.
Donohue said members of the NSW fire service were present and the response of law enforcement saved the man from more serious harm.
“The quick actions of police at the time were able to douse him with a fire extinguisher and put him out very quickly and as a result he suffered minor injuries.”
The Department of Immigration has been contacted for comment. NSW police said they had not yet spoken to the department as they were focusing on the man’s health.
In May last year, Somali refugee Hodan Yasin set herself alight while in immigration detention in Nauru, and Iranian refugee Omid Masoumali died in April last year after a similar self-immolation protest during a UN visit to the island.
Sources on the island told Guardian Australia in May that self-harm and suicide attempts happened daily on Nauru.
(THE GUARDIAN)
