Sri Lankans among Sydney rooftop protesters: refugee activist

SYDNEY, September 21, 2010 (AFP) – A group of protesting asylum-seekers Tuesday threatened to leap from the roof of a Sydney detention centre where a Fijian man plunged to his death a day earlier, an activist told AFP.

Bala Vigneswaran of the Australian Tamil Congress said nine Sri Lankan Tamils, who are among 11 protesters on the centre’s roof, had demanded a review of their cases and will decide what action to take at 5:00 pm (0700 GMT).

“If the worst comes to the worst we will jump,” the Tamils said according to Vigneswaran, who warned a mass leap from the two-storey building would spark chaos at the Villawood centre.

“Jumping is only a start,” he said.

“If that happens, people at the bottom will go out of control.

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Negotiators and security guards were on the scene. Activists said four of the protesters had deliberately slashed themselves, while the group has unfurled a banner saying, “We need help and freedom”.

The tense stand-off, also involving an Iraqi and one man whose nationality was unknown, started on Monday when Fiji’s Josefa Rauluni, 36, jumped from a building after receiving deportation orders.

Vigneswaran, who frequently visits Villawood and knows the Tamil protesters per