The Department of Immigration and Border Protection confirmed a “disturbance in progress” at the centre had resulted in “damage inside the centre [but] its perimeter remains secure”.
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“My understanding is that there could be a small number of New Zealanders involved but we haven’t been advised of any injuries to New Zealanders”. It did specify which countries the rioters were from.
The Melbourne-based Human Rights Law Centre said there was a “growing gulf” between what Australia says on the world stage and what it actually did back home.
“These are people who theoretically are staying on Christmas Island, choosing not to come back to New Zealand because we know under the advice we’ve had from the Australian Government they could do that”.
Several Labour MPs walked out of Parliament’s question time today after Mr Key’s comments, with Labour leader Andrew Little saying the situation on Christmas Island has revealed Mr Key’s “weak leadership”.
“The risk is that they will damage their own appeals if they undertake other criminal activity”.
Mr Davis said he’d been told detainees had taken over the centre and guards had retreated.
News first emerged online of unrest on Christmas Island, when a New Zealand MP, Kelvin Davis, said he’d been told that guards had abandoned the centre after a riot broke out among detainees.
Critics of the policy include New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, pointing out that many are being deported over minor crimes committed years ago and have no ties to their homeland after decades living in Australia.
It comes amid concerns detainees might have to wait longer than expected if they ask to return to New Zealand while their appeals against visa cancellations are heard.
“We have a feeling that they’re going to send a lot of guards in but a lot of detainees have armed up with baseball bats and poles just in case”, he said. “It isn’t like they don’t have access to cellphone capability”.
Speaking to ABC News24, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said safety inside the centre had deteriorated and people were “distressed”.
The two-hour riot started early Monday morning following the discovery of the body of an Iranian asylum seeker who escaped on Friday.
No staff or detainees had been injured, the statement said, and the department was attempting to resolve the situation “in a peaceful and safe manner”.
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They had lit “a number of small fires” at the detention centre and damaged medical, educational and sporting facilities.
