Melbourne, Tuesday \u2013 Hunger- striking refugees have refused requests by guards to abandon their protest in the
\ngrounds of the MITA detention centre in Melbourne.
\n\u201cThe guards have asked us to move inside, away from the outside area. We told them we are not moving, that we
\nare determined to see this through until there is a resolution one way or the other,\u201d one of the hunger-strikers said
\ntoday.
\n\u201cOur bodies are getting weaker but we still feel very strong in our hearts. The guards came and asked us to drink
\nwater. They have constantly been doing this. But all the boys told them to stop asking us that. They are trying to
\ndeter us, but we will not be put off by them.
\n\u201cThe guards have been doing all kinds of things to put us off. When we were preparing our banners, we discovered
\nthey had erected a secret camera to video what we are doing. They removed it after our protests at being watched
\nlike this.\u201d
\nTwenty-seven refugees \u2013 24 Tamils, two Burmese Rohingyas and one Kuwaiti — indefinitely detained because of
\nsecret ASIO reports began the hunger strike yesterday at the MITA detention centre in Melbourne. Most have been
\nimprisoned for between three and four years.
\nAfter the refugees were filmed speaking to a TV reporter across a cyclone wire fence yesterday, guards spread
\nblankets across the fence to obscure the view of the protesters, who have erected protest banners and are camped
\nin the middle of the outside lawns of the detention centre.
\nFor a second night, they slept in the Melbourne cold, where the temperatures dropped below 10 degrees. One of
\nthe refugees said today: \u201cIt was cold again last night but we are able to endure it. We are determined and strong
\nabout this.
\n\u201cWe will continue our hunger strike and our outside protest until there is a resolution to our situation. If the
\nGovernment won\u2019t let us out, then we want them to kill us mercifully.
\n\u201cWe have been here for many years, even though we have been declared refugees by the Australian Government.
\nWe are innocent, law-abiding people but we have been kept in jail for years like common criminals.
\n\u201c ASIO has made a secret report on us, a report that we can\u2019t even see to challenge, and it means we are in jail for
\nlife.
\n\u201cWe cannot bear it any longer. We are not in detention. We are in a cemetery.\u201d
\nFor further information contact Trevor Grant 0400 597 351<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Melbourne, Tuesday \u2013 Hunger- striking refugees have refused requests by guards to abandon their protest in the grounds of the MITA detention centre in Melbourne. \u201cThe guards have asked us to move inside, away from the outside area. We told them we are not moving, that we are determined to see this through until there is a resolution one way or the other,\u201d one of the hunger-strikers said today. \u201cOur bodies are getting weaker but we still feel very strong…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archived-press-releases","post-has-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\n