Australia | Standoff ends at immigration detention camp

A standoff between protesting detainees and officials at a remote detention center for asylum seekers in the Indian Ocean ended yesterday after federal police arrived to stop more than a day of unrest that prompted guards to flee the facility and left parts of the compound badly damaged, officials said.
Most detainees cooperated with police negotiators at the detention center on the Australian territory of Christmas Island, but officials used “some force” against a core group of protesters who had built barricades and had threatened to use weapons, the immigration department said in a statement. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said officers used tear gas to subdue the detainees, but declined to elaborate on what other tactics police used to quell the unrest.
Five detainees were being treated for injuries or medical conditions, though none were life-threatening, the department said. Dutton said the injuries amounted to minor lacerations.
Some areas of the facility appeared to be severely damaged, with Dutton estimating the cost of repairs at around 1 million Australian dollars (USD700,000). Detainees were being held in undamaged parts of the compound.
The unrest broke out Monday following the death of an asylum seeker who escaped from the facility. The man’s body was found on Sunday at the bottom of a cliff on the island. The cause of his death is under investigation.
Immigration officials say a small group of Iranian detainees staged a peaceful protest following the asylum seeker’s death, but other detainees then began damaging the property, lighting several small fires and prompting guards to retreat.
The people leading the unrest were not believed to be asylum seekers, but detainees who are being held at the facility due to their visas being canceled, immigration officials said. Kristen Gelineau, Sydney, AP