Saved by a Razor Blade

4 October 2007

The man who was marked for removal to China on Tuesday morning is still with us. He swallowed a razor blade and was taken to hospital.

Before removal / deportation these mentally ill patients are kept under close guard with two officers stationed less than a metre from them at all times. The aim is to stop them killing themselves before they are put on the plane. Fear is a powerful driver of human action.

The most senior clerics in Australia, senior doctors, and a Human Rights Commissioner, were among the many people who asked Minister Andrews to exercise his "humanitarian powers" to stay removal on medical grounds, and also because of the likely torture and imprisonment that he faced as an underground Christian.