Immigration department confirms disturbance after reports guards had left the centre following fires and damage to detention centre buildings

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Unrest has broken out among detainees on Christmas Island after the death of an Iranian refugee, the immigration department has confirmed.

The department said in a statement it was working with service providers “to resolve the situation”. It said no one had been injured in the disturbance.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said fences and walls had been knocked down and fires started in some sections of the detention centre in the unrest on Sunday night.

Refugee found dead after escaping Christmas Island detention centre Read more

Rintoul told Guardian Australia a demonstration that began about 11pm local time on Sunday had involved about 200 people, and a smaller number had damaged the centre.



The canteen, medical centre and property area had extensive fire damage, he said. There was smaller fire damage in accommodation areas and fences had been damaged.

He said the centre was quiet on Monday morning.

A New Zealand Labour MP Kelvin Davis, who recently visited the island, said a New Zealander in detention had told him detainees had taken over the centre and guards had retreated.



Davis told ABC radio the riots began when a detainee who had asked questions about the death of the man, named by refugee groups as Fazel Chegeni, was assaulted.

“They have put holes in the walls, so even if they are rounded up and put back in the cells they actually can’t be locked up,” Davis said.

On Monday morning most detainees were huddled together outside the detention centre on a sports ground, Davis said.

“There’s safety in numbers there and they want to be outside.”

New Zealand detainees on the island had asked Wellington for help, Davis said.

“They’re scared, they’ve asked me to try and get New Zealand consulate people over to Christmas Island to be witness to the injuries that they believe they’re going to receive in the coming days.”

The behaviour of guards was fanning the flames of unrest, he said.

“They’re scared that these guys will come in with batons waving, rather than trying to calm the situation in the first instance,” Davis said. “I don’t think that the situation will be helped if they come in guns blazing, so to speak.”

A New Zealand detainee earlier told TVNZ guards had abandoned the centre.

“They’ve gone, they’ve freaked out and left,” he said, according to audio provided to ABC radio.

Another New Zealand detainee told Radio NZ he feared a crackdown from guards in the coming days, including the use of “rubber bullets and tear gas”.

A coroner will investigate the death of the Iranian Kurdish refugee, whose body was found on Sunday after he escaped from the centre on Friday.

Detainees “feared the worst” had happened to the Kurdish man, Davis said.

“If he was out for a couple of days and on the run, he wouldn’t have been found near the perimeter of the detention centre, and there’s nowhere to run on Christmas Island either,” he said. “So there’s a lot of grey areas. I think there’s a quite a bit of propaganda coming out from both sides.”

On Monday morning, the department put out a second statement outlining the events.

“The disturbance follows an incident on Saturday (November 7) in which a detainee escaped from the centre,” the statement said. “A search and rescue operation was immediately undertaken however the escapee’s body was later discovered by search and rescue teams on Sunday at the bottom of island cliffs away from the centre.

“The cause of his death is not currently known and a report is being prepared for the coroner,” the statement said. “The department will make further comments as events unfold through the day.”

Christmas Island shire president Gordon Thomson said the escape had triggered panic among local residents.

He told ABC radio he was disappointed the immigration department had “allowed rumour to spread” through the community without providing any information.

A spokesman for the immigration department said any criminal offences “would be referred to police”.

“The department is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for detainees, and maintaining the good order of detention facilities,” the spokesman said. “It would not be appropriate to make further detailed comments on matters that are subject to ongoing operations.”

Labor’s immigration spokesman Richard Marles said greater transparency was needed at all Australian-funded centres.

Labor senator Doug Cameron said it was appalling most of the information about the riot was coming from New Zealand rather than the Australian government.

“The government needs to be open about what’s happening,” he told reporters.

The Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, told reporters the situation in the detention centre was “volatile” and “needs to be investigated”.

“We have grave concerns about what’s happening on Christmas Island,” he said. “This is a stain on our national character.

“We’ve got a policy now that is morally unsustainable, that is financially unsustainable,” Di Natale said. “This is something that Malcolm Turnbull needs to demonstrate some leadership on.”

The Greens would work with the government on changing asylum seeker policies, he said.

“I’ll be talking to Malcolm Turnbull to let him know that I’m prepared to work with him to change our current system of offshore detention to ensure that it is more decent and more compassionate,” Di Natale said. “We are pushing people to breaking point ... This is a symptom of a government policy that is now in crisis.”