Unrest flares at detention centre island

Unrest broke out at an Australian island immigration detention centre, authorities and NGOs said yesterday following reports the Christmas Island facility had been set alight by detainees.

The Australian Border Force said an operation was under way “to restore order after a disturbance” at the North West Point Immigration Detention Centre on the Australian territory in the Indian Ocean.

“A small number of detainees caused some damage to the facility overnight and continue to be non-compliant,” the agency said in a statement, adding there were no reports of any injuries.

Advocacy group Refugee Action Coalition said reports from inside the centre suggested two compounds had been set ablaze overnight Tuesday into yesterday as tensions boiled over.

“While the extent of the damage is not known, the glare from the fires and the extent of the smoke in the air indicates the fires are substantial,” the group said.

Video footage apparently shot inside the facility and posted to Facebook shows a man climbing on a roof as a blaze glows orange-red behind him.

“This is how frustrated people are with this ... detention. We are sick and tired to be treated as a dog,” a man could be heard saying.

“They are burning the roof ... nobody cares about us.”

National Justice Project principal solicitor George Newhouse said detainees were increasingly frustrated with conditions after being confined to their rooms for up to 22 hours a day and unable to contact their families due to a poor mobile phone signal.

“The federal government have a policy of keeping detainees in harsh and inhumane conditions.” Mr Newhouse said.