Category Archives: Christmas Island

Serco concealed ‘inappropriate’ use of firefighting equipment to control Christmas Island riots

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Exclusive: Ombudsman’s report says devices ‘discharged directly on’ detainees and into areas where people retreated, including those not involved in riots

The services company Serco was fined for having “concealed” the “inappropriate” use of firefighting equipment for crowd control at the Christmas Island detention centre – including on people not involved in riots.

The commonwealth ombudsman revealed two incidents that occurred in early 2022 in reports raising its concerns about “apparent pre-planned and systematic use of firefighting equipment against people held in detention”.

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March of the red crabs: months of preparation for annual mass migration on Christmas Island

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Temporary roadside barriers set up to channel tens of millions of crabs migrating to the coastline

The welcome mat has been rolled out for scores of red crabs as they make their annual coastal dash on Christmas Island.

Each year, the first substantial rain of the wet season triggers tens of millions of adult red crabs to leave their forest homes, in the interior of the island, and march towards the coast to mate and spawn.

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Immigration detainee not given new food because maggots ‘just on the vegetables’, report finds

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Advocates say ombudsman’s findings lay bare ‘inhumane’ treatment in Australia’s detention centres

An immigration detainee served a contaminated meal was not offered an alternative because the maggots were “just on the vegetables”, a report by the federal watchdog has found.

The claims by the commonwealth ombudsman – which are denied by the Australian Border Force – come in a report into conditions inside federal detention centres as part of Australia’s obligations under a UN anti-torture treaty – the optional protocol to the convention against torture (Opcat).

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Russia-backed spaceport proposed for Christmas Island abandoned in 2002 over sovereignty fears

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Cabinet papers reveal Russia wanted to limit Australia’s access to its rocket technology and classified information, leading to ‘impasse’

Plans to build a spaceport on Christmas Island with Russian technology were stymied in 2002 over fears that it would impinge on Australia’s sovereignty, cabinet papers reveal.

Russia wanted to limit Australia’s access to its rocket technology and classified information, and had concerns that a planned detention facility on the island would put its security at risk.

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John Howard’s government considered letting offshore detainees into Australia in 2002

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Cabinet papers 2002: records show there were growing concerns about management of asylum seekers in Australia’s offshore detention centres

The year 2002 started with traumatised asylum seekers sewing their lips together in protest at their incarceration, and ended with the federal government urgently planning a detention centre on Christmas Island.

John Howard and his cabinet were facing growing criticism over long-term detention as they increasingly enforced boat turnbacks and offshore detention in an effort to stop asylum seekers reaching the mainland.

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Immigration detainees transferred from Melbourne to Christmas Island amid heated protests

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Australian Border Force confirms 12 detainees, including one refugee, had visas revoked under Migration Act on character grounds

The Australian Border Force has confirmed the transfer of 12 immigration centre detainees to Christmas Island, 24-hours after a heated clash between police and protesters outside a Melbourne detention centre on Tuesday.

Guardian Australia understands that 12 detainees, including one person whose refugee status has been approved, were woken by guards at the Melbourne International Transit Accommodation centre early yesterday morning and told they would be moved to Christmas Island.

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Coalition says community detention not a pathway to resettlement for Biloela family

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Campaigners say minister’s decision must be ‘first step’ in returning Murugappans to Queensland

The immigration minister, Alex Hawke, says the government’s decision to allow the Murugappan family to live in community detention in Perth will not provide a pathway to permanent resettlement in Australia.

Lawyers for the family welcomed the government’s announcement on Tuesday that they will be removed from Christmas Island, but insisted it must be a “first step” to returning them to the Queensland town of Biloela.

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Biloela family to reunite on Australian mainland but visa status expected to remain unchanged

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The immigration minister, Alex Hawke, is set to announce the Murugappan family will be released from detention on Christmas Island

The immigration minister, Alex Hawke, is set to announce on Tuesday that the Murugappan family will be released from detention on Christmas Island and allowed to reunite on the Australian mainland.

Hawke will use his ministerial discretion to allow the family to return but the government is not expected to make any substantive changes to their visa status which is still being argued in the courts.

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Daughter of Biloela asylum seekers evacuated from Christmas Island for urgent medical care

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Australian-born Tharnicaa Murugappan in Perth hospital with suspected blood infection after Tamil family’s 18-month detention on island

The youngest daughter of the Tamil family from Biloela who have been detained for more than 18 months on Christmas Island has been evacuated to Perth for emergency medical care, advocates have said.

Tharnicaa Murugappan has been evacuated along with her mother, Priya, after being hospitalised with a suspected blood infection.

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‘Relief’: appeal win means Biloela family can put claim Sri Lanka is not safe, says supporter

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‘We are moving in the right direction,’ friend says after verdict that asylum seeker family was denied procedural fairness

The Tamil asylum seeker family from Biloela say a reprieve from the federal court on Friday has given them their first “real win” in two years in their fight to stay in Australia.

The federal court ruled that the family was denied procedural fairness in the decision on whether to process their visa claim in 2019 and their deportation must remain on hold.

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Biloela family may spend months more on Christmas Island waiting on court decision

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Home affairs adviser accused of untruthfulness as Tamil family waits on court to decide if youngest daughter can apply for asylum

The Tamil asylum seeker family from Biloela may have to wait another three months for a decision on whether their youngest Australian-born daughter can have her asylum application assessed, after a court hearing in which a home affairs adviser was accused of untruthfulness.

Tamil asylum seekers Priya and Nades and their Australian-born daughters Kopika and Tharunicaa have been detained on Christmas Island since late last year awaiting the hearing on the processing of a visa application for Tharunicaa.

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More Australian coronavirus evacuees arrive on Christmas Island to be quarantined – video

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Thirty-five Australian citizens and permanent residents, including 13 children and infants, have arrived on Christmas Island from Wuhan for a 14-day quarantine. They join 241 other Australians evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak

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People smuggling at top of Peter Dutton’s agenda during Sri Lanka visit

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Home affairs minister to hold high-level meetings and says Australia will help country rebuild after Easter terrorist attacks

The home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, will hold high-level meetings in Sri Lanka on Tuesday, with people smuggling at the top of the agenda.

Dutton is due to meet Sri Lanka’s president Maith­ripala Sirisena, prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministerial counterpart in Colombo on Tuesday.

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Scott Morrison leads PR sortie to reopened Christmas Island

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PM hints it is possible asylum seekers with serious medical emergencies will still be treated in Australia

Scott Morrison has indicated it is possible that asylum seekers with serious medical emergencies will continue to be treated in Australia, while taking a pool of reporters to Christmas Island to showcase the facilities the government has reopened at an estimated cost of $1.4bn over four years.

The prime minister led reporters on a tour of the Christmas Island facilities on Wednesday. When pressed about why he was on the remote island, with reporters in tow, for what was self-evidently an expensive public relations sortie, Morrison declared it was “important for Australians to know this facility is up to the job”.

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