An Iranian asylum seeker stitched his lips together at a Melbourne detention centre, refugee advocates claim.
Immigration authorities say the detainee at the Broadmeadows facility received medical treatment after engaging in an act of minor self-harm.
However, Refugee Action Collective spokeswoman Daniella Olea said the 28-year-old stitched his lips shut at Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation on Monday morning and refused to drink anything or speak.
Ms Olea said the man had harmed himself as an act of desperation after spending 11 months in detention.
He had been waiting six months for a second interview after previously being rejected, she said.
A friend of the man who noticed he was depressed and that his condition had been deteriorating since last week notified Serco staff at the centre.
"His friend had suspected that he was on the verge of maybe doing something," Ms Olea said on Tuesday.
"He saw a change of behaviour and actually told Serco.
"They didn't respond to that and then he did it."
Ms Olea said tensions at the centre were high, with the majority of the 90 asylum seekers there having spent more than a year in detention.
Six asylum seekers at the centre went on a hunger strike last month and signs of self harm were often visible when she visited each week.
A spokesman from the Immigration Department said a detainee had engaged in "an act of minor self harm".
"The person received appropriate medical treatment and is no longer engaging in the act," he said.
"The person was not required to go to hospital."
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