Christmas Island: Police try to restore order at migrant centre Published duration 10 November 2015

media caption Detainee: "It all started with the death of a detainee who tried to escape"

Police reinforcements are trying to restore order at Australia's migrant detention centre on Christmas Island, as unrest there enters a third day.

The disturbances began on Sunday after a detainee who had escaped the camp was found dead outside.

The immigration department said police were negotiating with detainees, but some had continued to engage in "non-compliant behaviour" overnight.

Facilities have been damaged and fires started inside, it added.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has blamed the disturbances on "a core group of criminals".

"We have been very clear about the fact that the government's not going to cower in the face of the activities of some of these criminals," he said.

Inmate's death 'sparked riot'

Christmas Island is a remote outpost located 2,650km (1,650 miles) north-west of Perth and 380km south of Java in Indonesia.

It is part of Australia's network of offshore processing centres for irregular migrants who arrive by boat, and also houses New Zealanders facing deportation from Australia.

media caption Conditions in the Christmas Island detention centre are "appalling" according to Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young

The unrest started when a group of Iranian inmates staged a protest about the death of an Iranian Kurd, Fazel Chegeni.

Mr Chegeni had broken out of the facility on Saturday. His body was found at the bottom of a cliff on Sunday.

Mr Dutton told parliament he had been advised there were no suspicious circumstances

image copyright AFP image caption A report on Fazel Chegeni's death is being prepared for the coroner

Reports on Tuesday said a hard core of detainees were still confronting guards and refusing to return to their cells.

One inmate, Tuk Whakatutu, is quoted as telling Radio New Zealand that some protesters with weapons were in one of the compounds, which had been surrounded by police in riot gear.

The immigration department said it remained committed to resolving the situation at the centre "peacefully and quickly", but it would "take action to protect people and facilities where an imminent threat exists".

People not participating in the unrest had been moved to a secure part of the facility, it said, asking anyone in contact with detainees to "inform them to return to their rooms if safe to do so".

It is difficult to verify information about what happens on Christmas Island as the media are generally barred from reporting there.

The Christmas Island centre

image copyright Getty Images image caption Australia's Department of Immigration has confirmed that inmates lit fires around the Christmas Island facility (file picture)

The current detention centre at North West Point on Christmas Island opened in 2006.

The government outsources running of the centre to private contractor Serco.

All 203 detainees are men - around 40 are New Zealanders awaiting deportation after committing crimes and losing their visas.

Human rights commissioner Gillian Triggs voiced "grave concerns" for asylum seekers after visit the island in July 2014.

All children were transferred off Christmas Island by the end of December 2014.

Controversial policy

Australia sends intercepted asylum seekers to Christmas Island, Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and Nauru in the South Pacific.

The government says the journey the asylum seekers make by sea to reach Australia is dangerous and controlled by criminal gangs and they have a duty to stop it. Critics say opposition to asylum is often racially motivated and is damaging Australia's reputation.

The policy was branded a "disaster" by Human Rights Watch's Australia director in July. The group also raised concern over conditions at the Manus camp.

Last February, an Iranian man was killed during a riot at the camp on Manus . The trial of a Salvation Army worker and a camp guard accused over his murder restarts later this month.