Asylum seekers injured in riot

By Peter Morris - SMH

CHRISTMAS ISLAND: Riots broke out at the Australian detention centre, which denies overcrowding.

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Thirty-seven Afghans and Sri Lankans have been injured in a massed brawl on Australia's Christmas Island involving 150 detainees.

Ten of the detainees were taken to the island's hospital and three of the more seriously hurt - one with a broken leg, one with a broken jaw and one with a broken nose - were flown to Perth for treatment on Sunday.

Some guards suffered minor injuries while breaking up the fight, an Immigration Department spokesman said.

Christmas Island detention centre authorities have now separated the Afghan and Sri Lankan detainees, with those believed to be the cause of the trouble placed in "stronger" detention, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said.

Senator Evans rejected suggestions the brawl was caused by tensions arising from overcrowding at the offshore detention centre, blaming the incident on anxiety caused by the repatriation of some Sri Lankans.

"We've had some people removed back to Sri Lanka found not be refugees," he told ABC Radio on Monday.

"But essentially we've had a fight between some detainees which got out of hand."

There was always a tension inside a detention centre for 1000 people, Senator Evans said.

"It's like any other place where you have to detain large groups of people."

There will be a full investigation by the Australian Federal Police, he said.

WEAPONS USED

The trouble began about 6.30pm on Saturday. As the confrontation between the Afghans and more recently arrived Sri Lankans developed, those involved wielded pool cues, broom handles and branches.

Detention centre staff moved in quickly to break it up but it took them 30 minutes to get those fighting under control.

"This was a confrontation between a group of detainees, it was not aimed at staff or the centre itself," the spokesman said.

There are 969 asylum seekers detained in the centre, which is designed to take 1088.

The spokesman said the detention centre was not overcrowded and all of the detainees were accommodated appropriately.

The two groups involved had been separated to ensure there was no further friction, he said, and they were being kept apart in two sections of the centre.

''All is calm and there have been no further incidents,'' the spokesman said.

The Opposition immigration spokeswoman, Sharman Stone, described it as "very disturbing" and called on the Federal Government to launch an independent inquiry into what went wrong.

She said it was a "serious breach of internal security" and both detainees and staff were in real danger.

Forty-four boats carrying 2094 passengers, most of them from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Iraq, and 92 crew have arrived in Australian waters so far this year.

The latest was intercepted by the Australian Customs vessel Roebuck Bay south-west of the Ashmore Islands on Friday.

It was carrying 53 passengers and two crew, and they were taken to Christmas Island.

The boat was the fifth to arrive in Australian waters in a week.

- with Gabrielle Knowles and AAP 

- © Fairfax NZ News