Uprising on Christmas Island: Death of an asylum seeker brings prisoners to justice

Immigration officials have confirmed that there was unrest at their detention centre on Christmas Island after the body of an escaped asylum seeker was found on Sunday.

“The department and its service providers are working together to resolve the situation,” a spokesman told AAP on Monday.

No injuries were reported and any crime would be reported to the police.

Death of a refugee triggers investigation
“GUARDS GOT OUT OF THE WAY AND GONE”

An asylum seeker, believed to be Iranian Kurd Fazel Chegeni, had previously died. He was found on Sunday after escaping from an internment camp on Friday.

Several prisoners rioted on Christmas Island after a man who had escaped from the Australian prison camp died. Photo: 7 News

A New Zealand prisoner told ABC NewsRadio that convicted criminals whose visas had been cancelled had been associating with asylum seekers like him.

He said no one wants to be locked up anymore.

“Everything was in chaos,” said the prisoner, adding that the guards had only cordoned off the perimeter of the area.

New Zealand Labour MP Kelvin Davis, who recently visited the island, has been in contact with a New Zealander detained on the island.

Mr Davis said he had been told inmates had taken over the centre and guards had withdrawn.

He claimed the unrest began when an inmate was attacked for asking questions about the man's death.

“They've drilled holes in the walls so even if you round them up and put them back in the cells, you can't lock them up,” Davis told ABC radio.

Ian Rintoul, spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition, also said fences and walls had been torn down and fires had broken out in some areas of the detention center.

“The canteen burned down,” he told AAP.

Detainees in the Christmas Island detention camp are rioting over the death of an Iranian asylum seeker, a refugee lawyer says. Photo: 7 News

Labour MP Kelvin Davis, who recently visited the island, said a New Zealander held at the centre told him the prisoners had staged a two-hour riot.

In a Twitter post Monday morning, Davis said: “BREAKING NEWS: Prisoners on Christmas Island are rioting. They've had enough.”

Another update, also with the hashtag #freethe501s, said the brawl broke out after a detainee was allegedly attacked when he asked about the asylum seeker's death.

The MP said the guards had fled the centre, leaving the detainees fearing for their safety.

“They are afraid of being shot,” he tweeted.

He quoted the prisoner as saying: “The guards have disappeared. We can't see them.”

“They're going to beat us and break our bones. Send someone to examine our injuries as evidence.”