Refugee advocates claim an asylum seeker near death in a Perth hospital after a lengthy hunger strike has been "cruelly" separated from his older brother.
Saeed Hassanloo, a 25-year-old Iranian, has reportedly refused to eat for almost 40 days to protest his four-and-a-half years in immigration detention.
Refugee Rights Action Network spokeswoman Victoria Martin said Mr Hassanloo was on Saturday separated from his older brother Majid, who was transferred from Yongah Hill immigration detention centre near Northam to Christmas Island.
"The cruelty of separating a family when one is perilously ill is an unfathomable act of cruelty," Ms Martin said.
"I am told by asylum seekers who know him he may have begun to refuse water after his brother was removed from their compound ... which might have caused his physical condition to deteriorate."
Ms Martin, who regularly visits Yongah Hill, says she has been told both men were under pressure to return voluntarily to Iran but neither would do so because they were fearful of persecution upon return.
Royal Perth Hospital said it could not provide updates on Mr Hassanloo's condition as it was a Department of Immigration and Border Protection matter.
The department, which indicated on Tuesday that he had exhausted all avenues to remain in Australia and said he was receiving the "most appropriate care possible" in hospital, was being sought for further comment.
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