A vigil will be held in Canberra on Thursday evening to mark the death on Christmas Island of Iranian Kurdish refugee Fazel Chegeni, who had escaped the detention centre.
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Extra federal police have been flown to Christmas Island to help secure the detention centre amid reports of widespread rioting by detainees after the death.
Canberra Refugee Action Committee spokesman Associate Professor John Minns, from the ANU, said the death of Mr Chegeni was tragic.
"Mr Chegeni was a refugee, his application was approved by the Australian government in 2012," he said.
"[It is] tragic because a refugee was in mandatory detention, with no hope, and no prospect for release.
"Tragic because his mental anguish, having fled for his life from his homeland, was intensifying and unending, in Australian detention. Where was our duty of care to this poor man?"
The vigil will be held at the intersection of Northbourne Avenue and Barry Drive on Thursday at 5.30pm.
