Man sets himself on fire in Australian immigration protest

A Pakistani man who set himself on fire outside parliament was distraught over a refusal by the Australian Government to admit his disabled daughter because of medical costs.

Shuharyar Kiyani, 48, doused himself with an inflammable liquid and set himself alight yesterday outside the main public entrance to Parliament as visiting school children stood nearby.

He was in critical condition in a Sydney hospital with third degree burns to 50 per cent of his body.

Kiyani was angry that his request to bring his wife and daughter to Australia had been rejected.

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said an appeal in the case was being considered.

Relatives of the burned man met with Ruddock. They offered to cover any medical costs if the daughter is admitted to Australia.

Ruddock said the Government was concerned about the possible high cost of medical treatment for the daughter.

"It's complicated because the child in this case has very severe disabilities and the matter that's being assessed is the potential cost to the Australian community if the application were to proceed," Ruddock said.

"Those costs (for medical treatment) go to many hundreds of thousands of dollars," he said.

Prime Minister John Howard said he was very sorry about the incident.

"For anybody to feel that desperate, that sad, and that driven is a very sad thing," he said.

Kiyani was granted permanent residency in Australia several years ago after arriving as an asylum seeker. He had been waiting for years to bring his family into the country.

Refugee advocate Marion Le said the incident case put a human face on immigration cases that were usually seen by officials as pieces of paper.

"Here is a father, who (whether she's got) ... a limp in the leg or a withered arm or not, still loves that child and has every right to have her join him in Australia," she said.

- INDEPENDENT