Man sets himself ablaze in Sydney against immigration

A man set himself on fire in Sydney on Friday in protest against the Department of Immigration, police said.

The man, aged around 30, doused himself in petrol and set himself alight on Lee Street near the department building, reports the Guardian.

Superintendent David Donohue could not confirm if the man was an asylum seeker or had been through the immigration system.

Donohue said the man was "deeply disturbed and upset" and "would have killed himself" if police had not doused him with a fire extinguisher.

He is being treated for superficial burns to his thighs and his mental health is being assessed in hospital, the Guardian quoted Donohue as saying.

In May 2016, Somali refugee Hodan Yasin set herself alight while in immigration detention in Nauru. Iranian refugee Omid Masoumali died after a similar self-immolation protest during a UN visit to the island.

--IANS

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