About 100 asylum seekers at a Sydney detention centre have begun a hunger strike to protest their detention and the apparent suicide of an Iraqi detainee.
Ed Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition said today that the detainees want the government to take action.
Media reports said the Iraqi man was found unconscious in a shower cubicle overnight and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The Department of Immigration confirmed the death but would not release any details.
It is the second suspected suicide at Villawood Detention Centre in two months.
AP