THREE Vietnamese men slashed their stomachs yesterday in a protest against being moved from their section at the Whitehead Detention Centre.
The trio - Nguyen Dinh Huan, 27, Le Van Doan, 35, and Nguyen The Viet, 37 - wounded themselves with home-made weapons after they were told they would be transferred from section one to another part of the complex.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' local chief-of-mission, Mr Robert Van Leeuwen, had visited the men moments before they cut themselves, a Correctional Services Department (CSD) spokesman said.
''I think they over-reacted to an explanation about their future,'' said the spokesman. ''The Hongkong Government has the right to move them within and between detention centres.'' Nguyen Dinh Huan was taken to Prince Of Wales Hospital, while the others were treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The CSD spokesman added: ''Their injuries were not serious and they were only sent to the hospitals for an examination.'' Residents have been protesting for a week about the decision to move them out of sections one and two of the centre. They were also worried that the withdrawal of the UNHCR could lead to forced repatriation or families being split up to demoralise long-stayers.
Progress on repatriating Vietnamese who have been screened out as non-refugees was one of the main topics discussed by the Secretary for Security, Mr Alistair Asprey, during a recent trip to Vietnam.
