| Six Asylum seekers held in Christmas Island 'red block' described as reminiscent of Guantanamo Bay |
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The Australian reported, "A GROUP of Christmas Island detainees have been isolated inside the $400 million centre's feared "red block" for the first time. Six Sri Lankans who staged a dramatic eight-hour standoff inside the immigration detention centre on October 30 have been placed in the high-security block, designed for the most violent, unstable and dangerous detainees."."..Coalition for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees vice-chairperson Eira Clapton, who was on the same tour, said she and others were alarmed and angered by a small caged exercise enclosure about the size of an average bedroom which she said was reminiscent of Guantanamo Bay..."
Full Text: A GROUP of Christmas Island detainees have been isolated inside the $400 million centre's feared "red block" for the first time. Six Sri Lankans who staged a dramatic eight-hour standoff inside the immigration detention centre on October 30 have been placed in the high-security block, designed for the most violent, unstable and dangerous detainees. The move has angered refugee advocates, who say the block is cruel and its use is contrary to detention reform. Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre coordinator David Manne, who was granted a tour of red block last year before the centre opened, recalled small metal cells in which the beds were moulded out of the same piece of metal flooring. Coalition for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees vice-chairperson Eira Clapton, who was on the same tour, said she and others were alarmed and angered by a small caged exercise enclosure about the size of an average bedroom which she said was reminiscent of Guantanamo Bay. Refugee advocate Pamela Curr said she and others were assured the block would not be used. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship yesterday confirmed the “red block” was now in use and that a group of detainees was placed there because it was the best available place to isolate the men for their own safety and the safety of others. Yesterday there were 1140 asylum seekers in various forms of detention on Christmas Island, including 962 men inside the immigration detention centre. But a department spokeswoman said the block had been adapted for them, and now provided “an open-plan living environment”. The group isolated in the high-security block are in a long dispute with the Rudd government because they wanted to seek asylum in New Zealand, not Australia. On October 30 the six men were due to be flown off the island and returned to Sri Lanka but their protest action meant the charter flight left without them. One of the men was wearing thongs when he stunned onlookers by swiftly climbing a light pole, thought to be more than 12m, and stayed there poised to jump, from 9.30am until he was talked down at 5.10pm. He had with him what appeared to be a piece of bed sheet, which he tied around the top of the pole and later untied and placed around his neck. He was urged on by five other detainees who refused to cooperate with people sent to the scene throughout the day, including a psychologist. The men removed mattresses laid down on the ground at the foot of the pole. They are among 50 Sri Lankans who were on their way to New Zealand on March 28 when their boat hit a reef in the Torres Strait. Stranded in international waters, they were taken aboard the customs vessel Roebuck Bay and delivered to a detention centre on Horn Island off Queensland's coast then to Christmas Island. The men have tried but so far failed to successfully argue they should have been allowed to ask for asylum in New Zealand as planned. Mr Manne described the use of the “red block” as cruel, inhumane and degrading. “It's a betrayal of the core element of the government's detention reform which stipulated that it should be in the least restrictive and least harmful conditions”. At the weekend, the first of two chartered Hercules flew in supplies for the detention centre including mattresses and tents that will be placed in storage and used as backup accommodation, |
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