Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Lips sewn in fresh Nauru protest at Australian detention camp

Posted at 03:11 on 22 February, 2013 UTC

Refugee advocates say seven asylum seekers at the Australian-run detention camp on Nauru have sewn their lips together in a protest over their conditions.

The Refugee Action Coalition says they have stitched up their lips and retreated inside their tents.

It says dozens more have been staging protests in the camp each day this week.

A spokesperson Nick Riemer says the lip-stitching shows how desperate some detainees have become.

He says it is the return of a shocking feature of the darkest years of Prime Minister John Howard’s Pacific Solution.

Mr Riemer says the only purpose served by keeping people in Nauru is to harm them further.