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AUSTRALIA-IMMIGRATION-DETAINEES
Australia vows to ‘restore order’ on immigration detention island
SYDNEY, Jan 6, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Unrest broke out at an Australian island
immigration detention centre, authorities and NGOs said Wednesday following
reports the Christmas Island facility had been set alight by frustrated
detainees.
The Australian Border Force said an operation was underway “to restore
order after a disturbance” at the North West Point Immigration Detention
Centre on the Australian territory in the Indian Ocean.
“A small number of detainees caused some damage to the facility overnight
and continue to be non-compliant,” the government agency said in a statement,
adding there were no reports of any injuries.
Advocacy group Refugee Action Coalition said reports from inside the centre
suggested two compounds had been set ablaze overnight Tuesday into Wednesday
as tensions boiled over.
“While the extent of the damage is not known, the glare from the fires and
the extent of the smoke in the air indicates the fires are substantial,” the
group said.
National Justice Project principal solicitor George Newhouse said detainees
were increasingly frustrated with conditions after being confined to their
rooms for up to 22 hours a day and unable to contact their families due to a
poor mobile phone signal.
“The federal government have a policy of keeping detainees in harsh and
inhumane conditions to force them to leave Australia,” Newhouse said.
“These harsh and solitary conditions are having an effect on the mental
health and welfare of detainees.”
The Australian Border Force said the centre was being used to house
“unlawful non-citizens” — migrants who had their visas cancelled after being
convicted of crimes — but would not confirm how many people were currently
being detained.
The Refugee Council of Australia said the facility held 220 detainees as at
October 2020.
Christmas Island, a tropical isle off Australia’s northwest, gained
notoriety as a venue where asylum seekers who attempted to reach the country
by boat were detained.
The government controversially reopened the facility last August after a
two-year hiatus, saying mainland detention centres were filling up as the
coronavirus pandemic prevented the deportation of migrants.
It was also used to quarantine Australians evacuated from Wuhan in February
after Covid-19 was first detected in the central Chinese city.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1135 hrs