SA: Woomera cleanup starts

AAP General News (Australia)
12-21-2001
SA: Woomera cleanup starts

A massive cleanup of the Woomera detention centre has started amid calls for Australia
to review its mandatory detention policy.

The facility in South Australia's north reported no disturbances overnight.

The Immigration Department says the centre remains on red alert today after three consecutive
nights of rioting from Monday, in which 21 staff were injured and 21 buildings were damaged
by fire.

A department spokesman says the damage bill is estimated at more than $2 million.

Refugee groups say the week of rioting proves Australia needs to rethink its mandatory
detention regime.

Australians for Just Refugee Programs, a collective of refugee groups, says the government's
treatment of asylum seekers is un-Australian.

The group has joined the Human Rights Council of Australia in lobbying the government
to reform its stance on the detention of asylum seekers.

Group spokesman HOWARD GLENN today described Woomera as a "pressure-cooker situation
in the middle of the Australian desert in summer".

He says people are detained not knowing how long they would be held, and their uncertainty
over the future breeds frustration.

He says there's no justification for the violence at Woomera, but he blames government
policy for the situation.

AAP RTV sl/dl/rt

KEYWORD: WOOMERA (ADELAIDE)

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