An Iranian asylum seeker who is entering his 46th day of a hunger strike in Darwin is likely to die as a stand-off with the Immigration Department to give him a positive refugee status continues.
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The man, who was not found to be a refugee under the Refugee Review Tribunal earlier this year, has not eaten for more than six weeks in Darwin's Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre. He told Fairfax Media through an intermediary that the Immigration Department was pressuring him to return to Iran, but he claims he will be tortured or killed if sent back. Under current laws, Australia cannot force Iranian nationals to return home involuntarily.
And under recently revised Australian Medical Association ethical guidelines, doctors will not intervene to force-feed a hunger striker if the person is mentally sound and engaged in a political protest.
His lawyer, John B. Lawrence, SC, says the man's condition has deteriorated since he saw him on Saturday and he is writing to Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to ask him to offer a humanitarian visa. But while the man's well-being is declining, his will to continue to strike has grown stronger.
"He seems as resolute if not more," Mr Lawrence said. "He in fact says, 'I have no choice', which speaks to his despair."
Mr Lawrence said the man has given no indication that he is going to change his approach and is on 24-hour watch. He is refusing to take in intravenous drip, but is taking anti-nauseous medications as his body responds to the lack of nutrition.
"He is visibly shaking and his speech is slower and laboured," he said. "He will get to such a stage that he will have to be taken to the hospital."
If taken to the Royal Darwin Hospital, it is likely doctors will likely refuse to force-feed him if they consider the man capable of forming an "unimpaired" and "rational" judgment, under the AMA guidelines.
Dr Richard Kidd, co-founder for Doctor's for Refugees, said doctors are ethically bound not to force treatment on sane hunger strikers.
"When you have an adult who has the right to refuse treatment, it gets pretty difficult," he said. "There would be a lot of clinical governance around this in the hospital.
"If you have a person who is considered sane, then there is an ethical imperative there to recognise that person has the right to reserve treatment."
