Vietnamese dies after self-immolation protest in Galang

JAKARTA (JP): A Vietnamese man has died after setting fire to himself before shocked officials in Galang Island refugee camp in protest against plans to send remaining boat people home, Reuters reported yesterday.

Quoting diplomats in Jakarta, Reuters said Pham Van Chau, 39, died of burns in a hospital in Tanjungpinang on Thursday.

Indonesian officials and those of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) in Jakarta and Riau could not be contacted for confirmation last night.

The self-immolation followed days of hunger strikes by several hundred of the Galang camp's 9,000 inmates.

"The man had been transferred to Tanjungpinang hospital (on neighboring Bintan) and he died yesterday," a diplomat said.

At least 400 Vietnamese out of a camp of nearly 10,000 have been conducting protests, including hunger strikes, during this week's visit by Vietnamese President Le Duc Anh, to Indonesia.

At least 150 people, out of some 8,000 inmates screened as due to return to Vietnam, had been treated in nearby hospitals for heat-stroke during the days-long protest, but aid workers said none were in danger of dying.