Staff on Nauru who witnessed the self-immolation of an Iranian refugee have described an “anxious feeling” among asylum seekers associated with the visit of the UNHCR.
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Omid Masoumali, 23, died in April 2016 after he set himself alight near the regional processing centre on Nauru.
His transfer to Brisbane for urgent medical attention took almost 24 hours and Mr Masoumali succumbed to his horrific injuries at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.
Among those who witnessed the act of self-harm were Connect Settlement Services staff.
The Australian government contracted CCS to assist refugees living on Nauru find housing and employment.
Former CCS case manager Billal Soubjaki was one of those witnesses.
He told an inquest into Mr Masoumali’s death there was “quite an anxious feeling” among those waiting to speak to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees officials at Nibok.
“I remember looking back and noticing that the crowd was looking out, just watching, and Omid making his way through the crowd,” he said.
“The crowd seemed to part quite quickly as he made his way down.
“…He was probably about 10 feet away from me and he was already doused in petrol.
“He just started yelling – speaking in Farsi, so I couldn’t understand it.”
Mr Soubjaki said the UNHCR officials present either did not notice Mr Masoumali or were “not necessarily fazed” by what they saw in the moments before he set himself alight.
“I recall a stray dog walking up to Omid and leaving very quickly,” he said.
“A couple of seconds later, Omid kind of pulled out a lighter and lit the flame.
“It all happened pretty quickly.”
Refugees on the remote Pacific island felt increasingly hopeless about their situation, Mr Soubjaki said, and were repeatedly told they had just two options available to them – remain or “go home”.
“You start to develop the frustrations of the refugees,” Mr Soubjaki said.
“You kind of start to demand answers from your superiors. It kind of got to a point where I would be instilling hope in refugees all over the island as much as I could.
"The [Australian Border Force] wouldn't recommend that. They would be like, 'be honest with them and tell them that they're here because of a policy and we do not how long they're going to be here for'."
Russell Badley, who worked as an intelligence officer for Wilson Security at the time of the incident, confirmed the “stay or leave” mindset among refugees.
“Certainly that’s what asylum seekers believed was their choice,” he said.
Talk of self-harm had spread across the refugee community on the island in the days and weeks ahead of the incident, Mr Soubjaki said.
“It was something that was definitely on the minds, on the consciousness, of refugees on the island,” he said.
“It was a demonstration of a lack of hope and the non-status of their position on the island as well.
“It was something that was definitely felt and acknowledged at that time where there was definitely an increase and we could sense that people were probably at their worst.”
Mr Soubjaki said he “did not think it would be farfetched” to suggest four or five instances of self-harm a day on the island.
“When you get to a point where you’re so frustrated, you’re kind of done negotiating, you’re brain just can’t compute your position anymore,” he said.
“You just don’t want to accept the reality of your situation, so you’re always frustrated.
“But that’s something I never noticed with Omid.”
Alan Beattie, a manager with CSS, said there was no suggestion prior to the incident that such a public display of self-harm was likely.
Not even the visit from the UNHCR had heightened such concerns.
“It certainly wasn’t anticipated to have the effect that it had,” Mr Beattie said.
Mr Badley said it was thought asylum seekers could use the UNHCR visit to stage protest action, including self-harm, to raise awareness of their plight through social media.
It was put to Mr Badley there was a meeting of Nauru’s Emergency Coordinating Organisation the night before the self-immolation, at which it was noted the UNHCR being on site gave asylum seekers a “staging prop” to make such a statement.
“They’re probably not the words I would use, but certainly in the lead-up to the UN being on the island there was a lot of discussion that it would make a good scenario to perhaps raise attention to their situation,” Mr Badley replied.
Earlier, Mr Masoumali’s partner, known only as Pari for legal reasons, said through an interpreter that her would-be husband did not want to die, even after the incident.
The inquest, before Coroner Terry Ryan, continues.
People feeling distressed can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
