REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SYDNEY -- A Sri Lankan asylum-seeker has died after setting himself on fire while awaiting a visa decision in Australia, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said Monday, with a Tamil group claiming he was "living in great fear".

Leorsin Seemanpillai, 29, who was living in Geelong, outside Melbourne, after being granted a temporary visa a year ago, suffered burns to 90 percent 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.