Guards had still not re-entered the Christmas Island detention centre on Monday afternoon after violent confrontations overnight with Iranian detainees over the death of a compatriot.
Sunday night’s unrest saw fences and walls knocked down and fires started in some sections of the detention centre.
Detainees told Guardian Australia that fear of retribution from Serco’s emergency response team (ERT) was the main concern of people inside the compound, which was now “unliveable”.
The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, told parliament in Canberra that the circumstances around the death of an Iranian refugee, believed to be Fazel Chegeni, whose body was found yesterday after his escape from the centre, were “not suspicious”.
UK-born detainee Mick Tristram said a group of about six Iranians had “started the trouble” by confronting three ERT guards, who retreated as a group of another 20 detainees looked on.
However, Tristram and another New Zealand-born detainee said the outbreak of fires and damage in the centre came after the ERT “stormed” another compound and dragged one detainee out screaming.
Tristram said while the group of Iranians had been distressed about the death of Chegeni, there was an undercurrent of tension between some members of the ERT and detainees, many of whom had been violently dealt with.
“The Iranians were pretty wound up about the death of one of their friends,” he said.
“But there is one particular ERT guard there who has been bashing a lot of people here. I mean one of these Iranians, he broke his leg, broke his ribs [previously]. There is a lot of people here who have been beaten up by these ERTs,” Tristram alleged.
An immigration department spokesman declined to comment on these claims, saying it would not add to its earlier statement on the unrest.
However, Tristram said most detainees had refused to join the group of between 20 and 30 people responsible for the unrest, some of whom he claims wore T-shirts over their heads while inflicting widespread damage in the compound overnight.
Some destroyed property belonging to their fellow detainees and threatened to turn on some who did not join them in the unrest, Tristram said.
Some also stole medications from the dispensary and had overdosed, he said.
“What we’re concerned about is [whether ERT] are going to come in heavy. I’m just going to drop to my knees, put my hands behind my head … that’s all I’m going to do.”
The New Zealand detainee said the centre was now flooded from fire sprinklers and showered with shattered glass.
He agreed “100%” that the main concern of detainees was the response by the ERT upon its return.
“I think people are still quite angry but they’re all sort of just in defence mode where they’re just waiting for the emergency response team to do something about it,” he said.
“I have thought maybe they could send in somebody to do negotiations … that would probably be a nice outcome, I just don’t think it will go like that.
“To be honest, I don’t even know how they’re going to lock us down – where would they put us? If they handcuffed us all again, they can’t really hold us here any more. It’s like, destroyed, unliveable.”
The ABC reported that about 25 detainees had barricaded themselves into a compound for protection.
It cited claims the unrest was provoked by an exchange between the group of Iranians and ERT officers who allegedly challenged them to go “one on one” in a physical confrontation and then made jokes about Chegeni.
The New Zealand detainee said he saw the “fight” between the ERT and the Iranian contingent sometime after 8pm on Sunday night in the centre’s medical dispensary, but could not hear what provoked it.
“All of the guys were prepared for something to happen but we just wanted to make sure the Iranians were OK and they didn’t get too hit,” he said.
“But yeah, they started going off at the ERT because the ERT doesn’t normally stand up at medication [dispensing time] so it was kind of odd that they were even there. It was almost like they were taunting us.”
The ERT then retreated behind caged doors in the medical centre and things “died down” temporarily, he said.
“And then ERT tried to storm another compound and that’s when virtually everyone got upset, basically,” he said.
The immigration department has denied there was a “large-scale riot” but admitted there was a “major disturbance”.
It said the facility was secure but remained tense, with some staff being withdrawn for safety reasons.
It said a group of detainees whose visas had been cancelled were thought to be the main instigators of action that started as a peaceful protest.
A number of small fires had been lit within the centre but there were no reports of injuries, the department said.
Dutton said while Chegeni’s death was subject to a coronial inquiry, he was advised there were “no suspicious circumstances in relation to the death”.
He said the government would rely on the coronial investigation assisted by the Australian federal police but declined to comment further.
The New Zealand detainee said the unrest was “an inevitable situation” that stemmed from “a bunch of people that have had enough”.
“We’ve been taken away from our homes, we’ve been taken away from our families. And obviously watching people hurting themselves, there’s been a few deaths now, I think it’s all built up to this situation.
“I think it’s just a really serious incident. I don’t even think this detention centre really exists any more.”
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion