By Amanda Gillies
Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre has been badly damaged in a night of violence involving rioting detainees.
Around a hundred detainees were involved on the overnight trouble, setting fire to buildings and staging a roof-top protest.
The rioters say they have been held at the detention centre for the last two years, and they are demanding to know why their applications for refugee status were rejected.
"Everyone in the detention centre will not stop what they are doing, until the Department of Immigration sends somebody to talk to them," says Jamal Daoud from the Social Justice Network.
Two men mounted the Villawood Detention Centre roof yesterday morning, after a clash between up to 100 detainees and guards.
More asylum seekers climbed onto the roof late last night, setting fire to mattresses and furniture.
A medical centre, laundry and computer centre were destroyed in the violence and other buildings badly damaged. Although remarkably, no one was killed or injured.
"I talked to the people inside, they are in fear of their lives," Mr Daoud says. "There is this thick smoke and they thought the fire would spread to their bedrooms."
Safety concerns prevented firefighters from entering the facility and they were forced to battle the blazes from outside after they were pelted with roof tiles and other debris. It took them hours to get the fires under control.
Police riot squad officers finally entered the facility mid-morning, and described the situation as volatile and out of control.
"It's completely unacceptable that people seeking entrance to Australia should be acting in this way," says opposition leader, Tony Abbot. "This is criminal conduct."
The incident is now being treated as a criminal matter and charges will likely be laid.
3 News
source: newshub archive
