SBS Arabic24 spoke with a 27-year-old Iraqi man who lost consciousness moments after ingesting a shaving razor on Friday at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA) in Broadmeadows.
He was transferred to nearby Northern Hospital, where he's receiving treatment and awaiting further medical advice on whether to undergo surgery to remove the razor from his stomach.
He claims to be among a group of more than 200 inmates in the fifth day of a hunger strike in protest against their living conditions at the centre.
The group has a string of demands -- from the provision of "proper chairs and tables to do paperwork" to the freedom to venture outdoors after midnight without a guard.
He has been held at the centre for more than two years following an 18-month prison term for a driving offence and said he ingested the razor because he was ‘broken, sad and angry’ over the conditions.
"We're having a hunger strike because of the inhumane conditions that we are living in," he said.
"This is an inhumane life. It's not for humans. The way we are living is very hard."
SBS Arabic24 understands that the man arrived in Australia with his family in 2010 on a Refugee Subclass D200 visa, which grants protection to the holder and the possibility for future permanent residency.
He said he was waiting in Turkey for more than three years before he was accepted by Australia.
"All I want is to be given a chance, I'm human. No human doesn't make mistakes. I made a mistake," he said.
"I'm regretful and I just want the chance to go back to see my sick mother in Perth."
The Department of Home Affairs has denied there was a hunger strike underway at MITA, telling SBS News: "Some detainees have been staging a peaceful protest, but continue to eat and drink."
"There is no mass hunger strike at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA). While some detainees are refusing to attend regular mealtimes as part of a protest, they continue to eat and drink in other parts of the facility.
"The ABF (Australian Border Force) strongly refutes claims that conditions in immigration detention facilities are inhumane or brutal."
Hunger strikes are a frequent occurrence at Australia's onshore detention facilities, which house people who have run afoul of immigration law.
Last year hundreds of detainees at a centre in Sydney went on hunger strike against strict visitation rules.
Detainees have also used short-lived strikes to garner media coverage and put pressure on Australia's conservative government to close the facilities.
Around 10,000 people were kept in the facilities in 2013, that number today stands at just over a thousand.
The federal government recently closed the nearby Maribyrnong detention centre.
But detainees claim the new MITA facility, which housed 223 inmates according to the last government statistics from November, is worse.
In 2017, the Australian Human Rights Commission -- a government body -- reported the excessive use of restraints and limited space and privacy at the centre.
-With AFP
