Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says the death of an asylum seeker who set himself on fire over the weekend in Geelong was a "terrible and tragic incident".

But the Minister is warning his critics against making "assumptions" about what led Sri Lankan man Leorsin Seemanpillai to take his life.

The Tamil man arrived in Darwin from India on January 9, 2013, and was held in detention before being granted a bridging visa with work rights in June last year.

He died of his injuries in hospital in Melbourne yesterday from burns to 90 per cent of his body.

Today Mr Morrison said Mr Seemanpillai had been "receiving community mental health support" for "some period of time".

He said Mr Seemanpillai had not received an outcome on his visa application, and that his claim for asylum was still being processed.

"There was no indication he was being removed anywhere or he hadn't been found to be a refugee or for that matter that he had," he said.

"This man sadly died as a result of a very serious set of injuries that were self-inflicted.

"And I don't think we're in any position - and I frankly don't think anyone is in any position - to draw any conclusions about what is in a person's mind in this situation."

Refugee groups say asylum seekers living in fear of torture on return

Mr Seemanpillai is the second asylum seeker to set himself alight in two months and refugee advocates are now calling on the Federal Government to reverse its policy of returning Tamils to Sri Lanka.

Trevor Grant from the Tamil Refugee Council met Mr Seemanpillai and says he was depressed over the handling of his application for protection.

"Leo has been severely depressed for some time, for well over a year, and what we basically believe is that it was caused by the fact that there was no decision on his application for a protection visa, and he'd been living in fear basically," he said.

"A lot of these asylum seekers are telling us that they would rather die here than go back to Sri Lanka and possible torture. Perhaps that is what was in Leo's mind."

It is a sentiment echoed by Phil Glendenning of the Refugee Council, who said: "Young Leo, who came to this country to seek protection, was instead punished".

"The desperation is something that is very hard to describe," he said. "The depression meets the certainty that if they return they will be killed."

Mr Glendenning says there is a fear of being sent back to Sri Lanka and a fear of "utter hopelessness" of being trapped in a system that sees compassion for people as weakness.

Chair of the Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations, Dr Victor Rajakulendran, says the Government process of assessing Tamils' refugee status needs to be improved.

"In my opinion, nobody should be sent back to Sri Lanka because Sri Lanka considers them as traitors and treat them accordingly," he said. "The treatment is mainly torture."

Dr Rajakulendran says the Australian Government needs to talk to the Indian government regarding sending Tamil refugees to India rather than Sri Lanka, if they fail the refugee test.

Friends say Seemanpillai was 'lovely', 'honourable'

Mr Seemanpillai's family in India has been contacted and has requested he be given a Roman Catholic funeral in Geelong.

Tim Gooden, from Geelong Trades Hall, told 774 ABC Melbourne he was a good friend of Mr Seemanpillai and that he had known him since last year.

Sorry, this video has expired Immigration Minister Scott Morrison responds to questions about the man's death.

"He was lovely. He was smaller than a lot of the other men. He was very kind and quite shy," he said.

Cathie Bond, another close friend of Mr Seemanpillai, described him as an "extraordinarily honourable man".

"Leo and his housemates were lent some money for a bond for their rental home. Leo was meticulous about paying that money back within weeks," she said through a statement from the Combined Refugee Action Group.

"His bridging visa allowed him to work, and he took various jobs, including cleaning, yard work and truck washing, in order to bring in an income.

"One of Leo's bosses told me that Leo was the best worker he's ever had. Out of the money he earned, he made contributions to children living in poverty in India.

"Even in his death, he contributed to the lives of others through organ donation. Such was the calibre of the man."