After 50 days on hunger strike: Omid flown to Australia

Omid, the 35 year-old Faili Kurd hunger striker on Nauru has been put aboard a Careflight plane to be flown from Nauru to Australia.

Omid, was taken by ambulance from the Nauru hospital to meet the Careflight plane which landed and refuelled. He was put on board around 5pm Sydney time.

Omid’s condition is not known.

“We do not know what Omid has been told. From the beginning of his hunger strike he has stated that he wanted Nauru closed and for himself and all the asylum seekers on Nauru to be taken to Australia and processed in Australia,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.

“The hunger strikes and protests on Nauru became more desperate following Chris Bowen’s announcement that asylum seekers in Australia who arrived after 13 August would be released from detention on bridging visas, while those on Nauru face years of uncertainty.

“At least another 18 people remain on hunger strike on Nauru, one of them for 30 days. There are around 377 lives on Nauru, and around 40 on Manus Island, that are directly in Chris Bowen’s hands. Howard’s Pacific Solution 1.0 collapsed under the weight of protests and its own contradictions.

“It’s time for Chris Bowen to shut down the Pacific Solution 2.0 before any more lives are put at risk.”

For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713

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