Australian immigrants back in detention

Numbers of 'boat people' in Australia have been rising sharply

By Dominic Hughes in Sydney

The immigration authorities in Australia say they have managed to return more than 700 illegal immigrants to detention centres after a series of mass breakouts across the country.

The detainees, many of whom are seeking asylum in Australia after fleeing from Afghanistan and Iraq, were protesting about conditions in the camps and the length of time it was taking for their applications to be processed.

There was relief among immigration department officials that the escaped detainees, who included women and children, were persuaded to return to the camps without the use of force.

The largest contingent of around 500 people had already camped out for one cold night in the town of Woomera, in a remote part of South Australia.

Protest at conditions

Most of the refugees, who arrived in Australia after a risky boat crossing from Indonesia, where being held in a former missile base.

Meanwhile, in the far north of Western Australia, escapes from the Curtin and Port Hedland centres by around 200 people were also contained after police set up roadblocks.

The breakouts seem to have centred around protests over conditions in the centres themselves, some of which are run by private security firms under contract to the government, as well as the length of time asylum applications were taking to process.

Australian alarm

The pictures of angry asylum seekers occupying the town centre of Woomera broadcast on television bulletins and splashed across the front pages of newspapers will have alarmed and dismayed many Australians.

Opponents to the detention centres, which are situated in isolated parts of the country, had warned that mass break-outs were always likely.

Australia's treatment of asylum seekers has also been subject to international criticism.

But all the main political parties back detention for asylum seekers, reflecting a broader concern in Australia that illegal immigration is a real and growing problem.