An asylum seeker saw no way out of Australia’s immigration purgatory. The numbers paint a bleak picture

Note: this article mentions suicide and mental trauma.

Last Tuesday, 23-year-old Tamil man Mano Yogalingam self-immolated at a skate park in Noble Park, and by Wednesday had died of his injuries in hospital. Yogalingam had been a key organiser of a 49-day protest outside the office of the Department of Home Affairs in Melbourne, asking for government intervention on behalf of the thousands of asylum seekers in Australia effectively in limbo under the previous governments’ “fast track arrangements”.

The Albanese government abolished the fast-track system but upheld rejected asylum applications made under the previous scheme. This included a rejected claim for refugee status from Yogalingam — who arrived by boat in Australia in 2013 as a 12-year-old boy with his parents and four siblings, fleeing alleged military persecution — meaning he was on a temporary bridging visa while seeking to appeal the decision.