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Woomera asylum seeker says "thanks but no thanks"

Afghan asyum seekers at the Woomera detention centre in outback South Australia say an offer from the Australian Government of a cash payment to help them return home is welcome but unattractive.

As Peter Wels reports, the offer was made by Prime Minister John Howard, during a trip to the United States.

Mr Howard says the scheme is similar to an initiatve three years ago in which Kosovo refugees were offered $3,000 to return home. But Hassan Varasi, an Afghan asylum seeker involved in a hunger strike at the Woomera detention centre says that while they thank the Howard Government for their offer, it's still too dangerous to return to Afghanistan. "We cannot return back! If we won't be alive, we won't need money!" Meanwhile, it's been a quiet night at the detention centre with mmigration Department officials saying health screenings for detainees involved in the hunger strike will continue for at least another week.

1/02/2002 12:29:07 PM | ABC Radio Australia News

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