Approximately 20 people held a vigil outside the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney’s west on Saturday, one week after the death of one of its detainees.
Twenty-nine-year-old Muhammad (whose last name SBS News has withheld at his family’s request), from Malaysia, was found dead at the centre’s Mitchell housing unit last Saturday at 3:30pm.
Emma Comley, a human rights activist, organised the vigil along with fellow activists Ian Rintoul and Stephen Langford.
“Today we are here to pay our respects to Muhammed who was a young 29-year-old detainee who unfortunately died here a week ago today," she said.
Human rights activist Emma Comley at the vigil. Source: Seif Al-Mutairi
“We know that Muhammed was waiting about six months to be able to go home to Malaysia and had become incredibly distressed at the fact that there was no progress from the government in him being able to return home, and was found sadly dead in his room last Saturday by Serco guards."
An ambulance was called to the detention centre on Saturday and Muhammed was pronounced dead at Liverpool Hospital.
“Nobody needs to die like this, in this way. We are calling for a change in the policy. The more it continues, the more people will die, it’s plain and simple,” Ms Comley said.
'He was struggling'
Muhammad arrived in Australia in 2016 as a student and had been living in Adelaide. According to his sister, Yana, who lives in Malaysia, he had overstayed his visa and was arrested in March around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He was transferred to Villawood and remained there ever since, despite signing paperwork that would allow for his deportation to Malaysia in May, his sister said.
“We had lost contact for a while,” she said.
“But then a few months ago he said he was coming back home. We video-chatted every week and he was struggling, desperate to return home. We sent him money to help him while he was in detention, but then last week it seemed that he was very distressed. It was the last time we spoke to him.”
A spokesman for the Australian Border Force (ABF) confirmed to SBS News: “A male detainee from Villawood Immigration Detention Centre recently passed away at Liverpool Hospital. The matter has been referred for investigation to the appropriate agencies, including the New South Wales Coroner. As this matter will be subject to ongoing investigation, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
People gathered outside Villawood Immigration Detention Centre on Saturday. Source: Seif Al-Mutairi
The NSW Department of Communities and Justice confirmed to SBS News that the death is now the subject of a brief of evidence by the police to the state coroner, who was conducting an inquest.
Yana said she, her parents and siblings were “absolutely devastated”.
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