New | Sri Lankan asylum seeker dies after setting himself on fire in Australia

A Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seeker has died after setting himself on fire while awaiting a visa decision in Australia, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday.

Leorsin Seemanpillai, 29, who was living in Geelong, outside Melbourne, after being granted a temporary visa a year ago, suffered burns to 90 per cent of his body after the incident on Saturday morning.

He died on Sunday in a Melbourne hospital.

“This man sadly died as a result of a very serious set of injuries that were self-inflicted,” Morrison said.

“And I don’t think we are in any position, and I frankly don’t think anyone else is any position, to draw any conclusions about what is a person’s mind in that situation.”

He added that authorities had been in touch with Seemanpillai’s father in India, who requested a funeral for his son in Geelong.

Seemanpillai, who arrived by boat in Australia in January last year, was receiving community mental health support and his refugee application was still being processed, Morrison added.