A British man who is believed to have committed suicide in an Australian immigration centre has been named as 29-year-old David Saunders.
Saunders, who was due to be deported, is the third person to die at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney, apparently from suicide, in recent months.
The recent spate of deaths has lead to calls for an inquiry by Refugee action groups to investigate how the Detention centre is run.
Saunders was discovered not breathing in his high-security accommodation block at 3.20am.
A spokesman for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) said: “The deceased had been detained for breaching his visa conditions and was on a removal pathway. It is understood the man, who had no further avenues for appeal, was wanted in the UK for serious criminal offences.”
“Police will investigate the circumstances around the man’s death which may become the subject of a coroner’s inquest.”
Tensions have already been running high in the Detention centre with protests after two other detainees apparently claimed their own lives.
Fijian Josefa Rauluni, 36, threw himself off a building at Villawood on September 20 and Iraqi Ahmad Al Eqabi was found dead in his shower on November 16.
