Media Release
Friday January 2 2004 08:30am WST
For Immediate Release
No Embargoes

"Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone's Christmas Eve offer to the detainees on Nauru, that the government is willing to listen to UNHCR's new assessments of refugee claims, based on new and more recent country information from countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq should be applauded", WA based refugee group Project SafeCom said this morning.

"Vanstone's offer to work with UNHCR and her openness to receive updated country information and act accordingly as a result of this information, opens up the road to end the current hunger strike, which has now developed to extremely grim proportions.

This statement comes as a new letter from Nauru has reached refugee advocates, stating that some hunger strikers will also start to sew their eyes together from next week if their pleas remain unanswered.

The latest report shows that convincing the hunger strikers that work on this new UNHCR assessment and Afghanistan and Iraqi country information has already started, as well as successfully relaying this information to those on Nauru in a way that convinces the hungerstrikers so they can stop their hunger strike, is of the highest importance.

"It is extremely important that the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) relays information reliably to the detainees, without delay and without its own interpretation or 'spin-doctoring'.

Earlier on, Migration Agent Marion Lê had also issued a statement stressing the importance of Minister Vanstone's offer.

----------------------
For more information:

Jack H Smit
Project SafeCom Inc.
Narrogin/Fremantle WA
[phone number posted]

Marion Lê
Migration Agent
Belconnen ACT
[phone number posted]

-----------------------------
Letter from hunger strikers:

TOPSIDE CAMP
Nauru
Central Pacific
1st January 2004

To DIMIA Officer in Nauru

Dear Sir

With the complement hope to be having healthy health.

As you know that it has been 23 days that we are on Hunger Strike and looking forward for expectation.

But still no one felt regarding us, and no one consider regarding our problem, even humanitarian organisations and UNHCR.

Meanwhile as we are despair from DIMIA authority in 23 days.

We want full attention of UNHCR regarding our problem.

So our demand is clear in the letter which we submitted to you on 10th December 2003, (FREEDOM or DEATH)

We are human. We don't suicide. But due to our problem to be solved we selected gradual death.

We are those three persons who have sewn their lips together and we understood well that we are going to be died, because we cannot walk a few metres.

Again we inform you if you don't feel our consideration about us until 10th January 2004 we will sew our eyes.

In the end we inform you that we never act any action which causes of clashes, crimes, damages and smashes.

Yours sincerely,
[names of hunger strikers]

Please send to UNHCR in Canberra
Director of IOM in Nauru, Cy Winter
Director of Nauru Police

-----------------------------------------------------------
A poem about "lip stitching" - from the play "Citizen X":

Will you please observe through the wire
I am sewing my feet together
They have walked about as far
As they ever need to go

Will you further observe
Through the wire
I am sewing my heart together
It is now so full of
The ashes of my days
It will not hold
Any more

Through the wire
One last time
Please observe
I am sewing my lips together
That which you are denying us
We should never have
Had to ask for.

FULL SCRIPT of the play: http://www.safecom.org/