Note: this article mentions suicide and mental trauma.
Last Tuesday, 23-year-old Tamil man Mano Yogalingam self-immolated at a skate park in Noble Park, and by Wednesday had died of his injuries in hospital. Yogalingam had been a key organiser of a 49-day protest outside the office of the Department of Home Affairs in Melbourne, asking for government intervention on behalf of the thousands of asylum seekers in Australia effectively in limbo under the previous governments’ “fast track arrangements”.
The Albanese government abolished the fast-track system but upheld rejected asylum applications made under the previous scheme. This included a rejected claim for refugee status from Yogalingam — who arrived by boat in Australia in 2013 as a 12-year-old boy with his parents and four siblings, fleeing alleged military persecution — meaning he was on a temporary bridging visa while seeking to appeal the decision. He had spent more than a decade in Australia not knowing whether he would be deported.
Crikey breaks down some of the numbers of Australia’s immigration system, which has produced horrors like this many times.
Length of time Yogalingam spent on a bridging visa: 11 years
Number of asylum seekers in Australia under these “fast-track arrangements”: 7,350
Average wait for a decision regarding a permanent protection visa (as of March 2023): 793 days
People detained for more than two years onshore as of May 2024: 236 (27% of total detention population)
Of the above 236, the number of people detained for more than five years onshore as of May 2024: 74
Most asylum seeker arrivals by boat in Australia in a single year: 20,587 (2013)
Most asylum seeker applications in a single year in Germany: 700,000 approx (2016)
Number of asylum seekers hosted by Iran: 3.8 million
Number of asylum seekers hosted by Colombia: 2.9 million
Number of asylum seekers hosted by Australia: 80,000 (in addition to 60,000 refugees)
Percentage of Australia’s population that asylum seekers and refugees comprise: 0.5%
Estimated cost since reopening Australia’s offshore processing centres in 2012: $12.1 billion
Average cost per annum of holding a person in immigration detention in 2019-20: $361,835
Average cost per annum of holding a person in residence determination (community detention) in 2019-20: $46,490
Estimated costs of the detention centre on Nauru according to a 2015 Senate committee: $645,726 per asylum seeker over the previous 11 months.
Reported cost of detaining the 22 refugees and asylum seekers still on Nauru in 2023: $485 million
Number of asylum seekers that have died in Australia’s offshore detention (or following medical evacuation): 21
Youngest asylum seeker reported to have attempted suicide because of offshore detention: Five years old
If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
