22 May 2018•Update: 23 May 2018
By Meryem Goktas
ANKARA
The European Rohingya Council (ERC) on Tuesday called on the Australian government to investigate into the alleged suicide of a Rohingya refugee.
The refugee detained by Australia on the country’s offshore processing center on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, has committed suicide, local media reported on Tuesday.
"ERC demands Australian government to do a thorough investigation on the death of a Rohingya refugee in PNG island," the group said in a statement.
It expressed shocked at the death of 52-year old Salim "who was sent to and kept in a remote Papua New Guinea island by Australian authority".
Quoting a report, the council said the refugee died after jumping from a moving bus near a refugee transition center, adding that he had suffered from a medical problem for a long time.
"ERC believes that Mr. Salim took his life due to condition of such a long time detention in the island and died of medical negligence. ERC also believes that his death could be prevented if Australian authority addressed his suffering and treated his medical condition timely," read the statement.
"Therefore, ERC demands Australian government to do a proper investigation and release the details on the death of Mr. Salim. ERC also urges to grant asylum to all of the Rohingya kept in detention for a long time or resettle them into third countries in order to avoid such horrible, and unnecessary loss of human lives," it added.
Australia sends asylum-seekers who attempt to reach its shores to detention centers on Manus, Papua New Guinea or Nauru, an island country in Oceania.
The detention centers have made headlines due to reports of rape, security lapses, poor conditions, and the uncertainty surrounding detainees' future.
The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012 in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
