Riot squad moves in on Christmas Island

This is an ongoing situation as I post this. It is 7.40 am on Christmas Island currently (12.40 pm in New Zealand)

Christmas Island: reports riot squad has moved in

Armed guards have entered the Christmas Island detention centre to take back control from a group of rioting detainees, the Labour Party says.

Radio NZ,

10 November, 2015

The centre houses both asylum-seekers and New Zealanders with criminal records awaiting deportation.

Trouble broke out at the centre in the early hours of yesterday morning after the death of an asylum seeker who had escaped. The facility houses both asylum seekers and New Zealanders awaiting deportation.

Labour's Corrections spokesperson Kelvin Davis said he had spoken to some detainees by telephone about events now unfolding.

"Things have really kicked off, the riot squad has moved in waving their batons, apparently gas canisters have been fired.

"There's reports of people being hit with rubber pellets, people are barricading themselves in their rooms, just trying to keep themselves safe." he said.

He said he fears someone could be killed.

Barricaded detainees 'armed with petrol bombs, chainsaws'

Earlier this morning, a detainee on Christmas Island said a group of detainees were barricaded in one of the compounds armed with chainsaws, machetes and petrol bombs.

Tuk Whakatutu told Morning Report the situation was tense.

"The riots squad's all geared up ready to come in. Everything's barricaded up, all the young fellas are all tooled up.

"They've got petrol bombs, they've got machetes, they've got chainsaws, metal bars; all sort."

He said the rioters had the run of the compound and had broken into garden sheds to look for weapons.

"It's just going crazy. I want nothing to do with it, but all the young fellas are geed up, they want to go to war with them."

He said the group that was armed was made up of mainly New Zealanders and Pacific islanders.

Another detainee at the Australian-run centre said sirens and water sprinklers were going off and surveillance drones were in the air.

A detainee told RNZ fires had broken out at the detention centre.   Photo: AFP

Detainee Ricardo Young told RNZ News there were fires everywhere at the camp.

Listen to Ricardo Young on Morning report ( 5 min )

He said he had been told armed guards were going to storm the facility firing rubber bullets.

"They're all at the fence, they're going to come in. They're just waiting to see what they're going do ... everyone's scared for their life."

"There's all drones all over the place, it's all happening here. The place is all on fire ......it's very unsafe, you don't know what's going to happen."

The guards gathered at the fence were in riot gear, he said. "They've got force, they're ready, they've got at least 200 people."

Mr Young said the detainees had tried to open negotiations with Serco, the private company that operates the detention centre.

"There's no negotiation, they don't want to negotiate nothing you know? We wanted to get one of the boys to negotiate with them to see if we could resolve this matter and they don't want a piece of it. They've pretty much said that they want war, so at the end of the day they're declaring it. Serco's declaring it.

"It leaves the people in the detention centre with no choice but to just go on with what they have to do because at the end of the day what's going to happen? They're going to bash them any way. So if they surrender anyway they're still going to get bashed. They don't want to sort anything out ."

Listen to more on Morning Report ( 2 min 52 esc )

A razor wire fence at a detention centre on Christmas Island   Photo: AAP

'I'm frightened all the time'

The partner of one detainee - who wanted to be known by only her first name, Denise - has been in regular contact with her partner, an inmate at the centre and she told Morning Report she is afraid for the safety of all the detainees.

"They're all geared up in their riot outfits, interrogating detainees from the fence line, pointing fingers at them and telling them 'watch out' and they're pretty much stuffed when they get their hands on them.

"It's alarming to think what's going to happen when they come back and take control of the centre."

She said her partner told her the detainees expected there would be a a violent ending.

"I'm frightened all the time, even the rioting's extreme and what's going to happen as a result of this is frightening.

"I'm afraid for their safety, everyone's safety there, because they've seen first hand how violent these ERT squads can actually be."

Ian Rintoul from Australia's Refugee Action Coalition told Morning Report he feared excessive force would be used against detainees as a form of punishment.

"I think everyone's very concerned about that - the federal police, riot police and the Serco emergency response team that they use, their own little riot squad team, they're very brutal, there's a brutal history of them in similar circumstances.

"People are very used to being brutalised by Serco, we are quite worried and we've tried to make as many calls on the government that we can to get Serco to exercise restraint when they decide they want to go back into the detention centre."

Mr Rintoul said it should be possible to stabilise the situation without the use of excessive force.

"I don't think it's really a matter of regaining control, it's not like the detainees are trying to keep Serco out.

"I don't think we need to see the use of batons and tear gas and plastic cuffs to regain control. And I think if they [Serco] were sensible about it they could easily negotiate how that was going to happen."

The Australian government yesterday confirmed a number of people at the detention centre were involved in a "stand-off" with authorities. According to the Immigration and Border Protection Department, staff had re-entered central parts of the centre and the perimeter was secure, the ABC reports.

Back-up staff were being flown to Christmas Island to relieve workers who have been under pressure since the asylum-seeker's death.

An Iranian Kurd, who officials say had arrived illegally by boat, was found dead on Sunday after he escaped from the main North West Point immigration detention centre.

-RNZ / ABC

Guards storm Christmas Island detention centre

Other countries have criticised Australia but not New Zealand. John Key is not even raising the issue. National Party voters support a government that supports New Zealanders beign beaten up, possibly even killed.

NZ accused of going easy on Australia's immigration policy at UN

Radio NZ,

10 November, 2015

The New Zealand government has been accused of going easy on Australia when it appeared before the United Nations Human Rights Council, despite wide-spread criticism of the way it runs its detention centres.

Australia is under fire for the way it runs its detention centres, including this one on Manus Island    Photo: AAP

Australia is in the midst of a four-yearly human rights review by the United Nations (UN) and is also bidding for a seat on the council. Labour and the Greens say New Zealand should oppose the bid.

They and the Maori Party, a government ally, have criticised Australia's treatment of detainees in its detention centres, particularly on Christmas Island where New Zealanders are being held and which has been the scene of rioting following the death of an Iranian asylum seeker.

Last night, Australia faced questions about its asylum seeker and detention policies, as well as about its treatment of Aborigines as part of its human rights review.

The hearing in Geneva allowed other nations to question Australia on its human rights performance. Britain, Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, Switzerland and the United States were among dozens of countries criticising Australia's asylum policies.

New Zealand made a submission to the council, but the Government did not question Australia's treatment of asylum seekers or other detainees at Australian detention centres.

Instead it commended Australia for amending its Sex Discrimination Act to provide protection from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

"However, we note that further work is needed in the areas of indigenous and minority rights. New Zealand recommends that Australia continue to address inequalities affecting human rights in the areas of health, education, employment and income that disproportionately affect indigenous peoples and other minority groups.

"While we commend Australia's signature of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, New Zealand recommends that Australia ratify OPCAT and implement a National Preventative Mechanism.

"Finally, New Zealand recommends that Australia introduces measures to address issues related to the treatment of persons with disabilities, including considering the implementation of recommendations from both the Australian Law Reform Commission's report on Equality, Capacity and Disability in Commonwealth Laws, and the Senate inquiry into high levels of violence and abuse of persons with disabilities in institutional and residential settings.

"We wish the delegation a successful review."

Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox said she was appalled the Government did not question Australia's record on detention centres.

She said the Maori Party had sent the Government a series of questions to ask Australia but had been told they were not needed.

Marama Fox said she was astonished and could not understand why questions were not raised.

"It smacks of this matey relationship the Government wants to have with Australia. But they need to open their eyes. Australia has not afforded us the same courtesy," she said.

Australia cites offer to resettle refugees

Members of the of Australia's delegation defended the country's policies on asylum seekers.

"Irregular migration flows pose particular challenges to a managed and equitable system of migration," said John Reid of the attorney-general department, who led the delegation.

"Strong border protection measures" had helped maintain the government's significant humanitarian resettlement and assistance programmes, he said, citing its offer to resettle 12,000 refugees from Syria and Iraq.

"No asylum seeker who engages our (international) protection obligation is ever returned to a situation of danger," said Andrew Goledzinowski, ambassador for people-smuggling issues in the foreign ministry. No one had died trying to reach Australian shores over the past 18 months.

Meanwhile, the government relations advisor at Amnesty International Australia, Tamara Lions, said a number of countries had questioned Australia's record on detention centres.

Ms Lions said by raising the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture New Zealand had also effectively raised the issue because that protocol covered the monitoring of detention centres.

She said worries about Australia's treatment of asylum seekers and other detainees would affect Australia's bid to get a seat on the UN Human Rights Council.

This is how Australia's ABC is dealing with it - an interview with the minister

Al-Jazeera is one of the few international news organisatiosn to cover this

There is hardly anything to be seen on media about this.For instance I have yet to see anything from Australia's 
Channel 7.

However, I did find this bit of commentary from somebody.

Australia and Christmas Island Riots "Political Racism?"