A refugee advocate has hung up on Neil Mitchell following a fiery exchange over the death of an Afghan refugee overnight.

Ali Jaffari, who had his visa cancelled due to child pornography convictions, had set himself alight at a West Australian immigration detention centre.

He died on Wednesday night at Perth’s Fiona Stanley Hospital, West Australian police said.

In May last year, Neil Mitchell received dozens of phone calls from deeply concerned listeners after Jaffari was spotted near children and parks in Melbourne.

Former Immigration Minister Scott Morrison stepped in and Jaffari was taken into custody.

A spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition, Ian Rintoul, told Neil Mitchell Jaffari should have been put through the criminal justice system instead of being held indefinitely in detention. 

LISTEN: Ian Rintoul’s heated exchange with Neil Mitchell

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