Refugee at Australian camp on Papua New Guinea found hanging

Source: Associated Press


Kristen Gelineau, Associated Press
Updated 6:26 am, Monday, August 7, 2017


YDNEY (AP) — A refugee being held in an Australian immigration camp on the Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea was found dead in an apparent suicide on Monday, sparking outrage from fellow refugees and advocates who say officials failed to treat him despite a long history of mental illness.

Hamed Shamshiripou, a 28-year-old refugee from Iran, was found hanging from the branch of a tree near an elementary school by students on Monday morning, Papua New Guinea police said in a statement. The school is in the Manus Island town of Lorengau, where Shamshiripou had been staying at a transit center for refugees awaiting resettlement.

An autopsy was being conducted, but Police Commissioner Gari Baki said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the man's death. Shamshiripou had previously attempted to commit suicide, Baki said.
 
Australia refuses to resettle any asylum seekers who try to reach its shores by boat. Instead, the country pays Papua New Guinea and the Pacific island nation of Nauru to house them in camps condemned as draconian by human rights advocates.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Refugee-at-Australian-camp-on-Papua-New-Guinea-11738524.php