One of three men who sewed their lips together at Darwin's immigration detention centre has escalated his protest and is refusing liquids and food, a refugee advocate says.
The protest by the three Faili Kurdish men at the centre is thought to have continued into its fifth day yesterday, although this could not be immediately confirmed.
The protest began on Monday when three men, angry that they have been in detention for up to 22 months without news on what their fate will be, sewed their lips together.
Two other Kurdish asylum seekers deliberately overdosed and were rushed to hospital where they were treated and later returned to detention.
Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition said one of the men with sewn lips had escalated his protest yesterday and was no longer eating or drinking anything.
A spokeswoman at the Department of Immigration and Citizenship was unable to immediately confirm whether one of the inmates was on a hunger strike.
The men have been deemed by authorities to be stateless, and it is understood they cannot be repatriated to their homelands despite their applications for asylum being rejected.
Faili Kurds come from a region straddling the border of Iraq and Iran.
- AAP