Australia has accepted Iranian refugees since 1979. Now, it deems them 'economic migrants'.
Reza, an asylum seeker who had been living in the community on a bridging visa, took his life at the Brisbane airport on October 29.
According to friends, he feared being deported back to Iran. “He was scared to stay here”, a friend of the 26-year-old Iranian told the Guardian Australia. He had grown worried that he was being followed and that he would be taken into detention, the friend added.
The friend said Reza called him early on October 25 and said: “I am tired. Always police and people follow me. I want to kill myself. Tell my family.”
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