Mygripe
ACCUSED Indonesian people smugglers rioting at an immigration detention centre in the Northern Territory have set mattresses on fire during a protest.
But a Department of Immigration spokesman said that police had now restored control.
He said that only Indonesian crewman, facing people smuggling charges, had been involved in the riot.
The riot started at 4am (CST) on Sunday when two Indonesian crewmen climbed a tree and refused to get down, he said.
Other detainees joined in the protest, yelling their grievances and starting a fire in the yard by setting alight mattresses and paper at about 7.30am, the spokesman said.
Some protesters climbed onto a rooftop and brandished poles.
The spokesman said firefighters had extinguished the blaze by 8am.
The fire caused a huge plume of black smoke to rise above Darwin’s outskirts.
The detention centre at the Coonawarra Naval Base houses 500 detainees, including 150 alleged Indonesian people smugglers.
The spokesman could not confirm how many detainees were involved in the protest but said it could be up to 97 – the total number of Indonesian crewman detained in the affected compound.
He said the protest would not influence the outcome of detainees’ people smuggling court cases.
The spokesman said police could lay charges over the incident.
He said authorities would investigate the protest.
NT police officers are still at the centre.
The NT Police declined to comment.
Mygripe
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