SL asylum seeker seriously injured

9 February 2011 04:47 am

A Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seeker will be flown to Perth for medical treatment after he was believed to have had his teeth knocked out during a brawl at the Christmas Island detention centre.

The Department of Immigration confirmed that in the early hours of Monday morning an altercation broke out between eight Sri Lankan, Iraqi and Kuwaiti detainees at Christmas Island.

A spokesman said that at about 1am (local time) staff from the detention centre's service provider Serco were able to break up the fight without any injuries being sustained.
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However later in the day another fight broke out between the same group of asylum seekers which resulted in one man being seriously injured.

A spokesman said the detainee was treated at the centre's medical centre but it was expected he will be transferred to Perth for further treatment.

Refugee advocate Ian Rintoul said the injured detainee was a Tamil who had some of his teeth knocked out during the brawl inside the compound at about 12.30pm (local time) on Monday.

Three other detainees suffered minor injuries while a Serco staff member was also injured during the altercation and subsequently treated at the Christmas Island hospital.

Following the fight, Serco staff separated the Iraqi and Kuwaiti detainees involved to ensure their safety, a departmental spokesman told AAP.

But the peace didn't last long when a further altercation broke out between 50 Iraqi, Sri Lankan and Kuwaiti detainees. However, Serco staff managed to de-escalate the situation and no injuries were reported.

A spokesman said the centre remains calm as Serco staff continue to monitor the situation.

The Australian Federal Police are investigating the incidents.

Mr Rintoul, from the Refugee Action Coalition, said further altercations are inevitable due to the tension caused by overcrowding at the Christmas Island detention centre.

"It seems that the overcrowding is producing something of a gang culture among some of the detainees inside the detention centre," he said.

"The overcrowding, the boredom, the delays and the misery is turning the detention centre into a hot house of frustration."

A recent report by Commonwealth Ombudsman found that, as of February, about 2757 asylum seekers were living at the detention facility, well above its contingency accommodation capacity.

"Simply put, there are too many people detained at the Christmas Island immigration detention facilities," Ombudsman Alan Asher.

Source: Brisbanetimes