Asylum seekers riot, torch buildings in Australia

Just the kind of people you'd want to help out huh?

AFP - Asylum seekers torched nine buildings at an Australian detention centre in a night of wild riots with a handful still on rooftops Thursday, reviving debate over the country's immigration policies.

The riots kicked off late Wednesday at the Villawood Detention Centre in western Sydney with an estimated 100 detainees involved at the height of the drama.

Firefighters were at one stage pelted with roof tiles and pieces of furniture as they tried to douse the blazes, and riot police were called in to protect them.

A computer room, kitchen, medical facilities and a laundry were among the buildings destroyed.

The immigration department said the fires had been contained but several people remained on the roof, sitting beside a large white sign that read "We need help".

"Emergency services have been working throughout the morning to restore order following a major disturbance at Villawood Immigration Detention Centre," the department said in a statement.

"About 100 detainees were believed to be involved in the disturbance, in which nine buildings... were set alight."

Immigration spokesman Sandi Logan condemned the "appalling" behaviour of rioters.
"At one stage many of the protesters were hurling roof tiles and pieces of furniture, and other clumps of wood at the firefighters," he said, adding that "miraculously" no injuries had been reported.

The rooftop protest started with just two inmates, apparently upset at the immigration department denying their visa applications.

Australia has a policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers while their claims are processed, and generally holds them on remote Christmas Island, 2,600 kilometres from the mainland in the Indian Ocean.

But the increasing number of people arriving by boat -- 6,500 last year, many from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka -- has seen increasing use of mainland centres, including Villawood, which houses about 400 people.

Protests erupted at the Sydney centre last September after a Fijian leaped to his death from a roof in front of horrified onlookers, shortly before he was due to be deported.

It sparked a tense 29-hour standoff with other detainees.

The Christmas Island facility endured days of riots last month, with about 250 inmates setting fire to accommodation tents and hurling makeshift explosives at police, prompting them to respond with tear gas.

Brami Jegan, from the Refugee Action Coalition, told ABC radio she believed the Villawood disturbances were prompted by stress and frustration.

"What's happened is an absolute act of desperation. It's a cry out for help," Jegan said, adding that some people had been in the centre for nearly two years.

"It's so obvious the profound psychological effects that mandatory and prolonged detention is having on these people, these human beings," she said.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen warned that violence would not be tolerated.

"These people are not happy, but if they think this can change visa outcomes they have chosen the wrong government and the wrong minister, because that won't be happening," he told reporters.

In an attempt to stem the steady flow of people making their way to Australia, often by rickety boats from Indonesia, Canberra wants to set up a regional processing centre in East Timor -- a move opposed by Dili.

Last month, Asian countries signed a non-binding framework agreement to deal with smuggling networks and humanely process the large numbers of irregular migrants moving through the region.