The Australian government and refugee advocates are at odds over the condition of the Christmas Island detention centre the day after riots broke out.
The immigration department said centre operators had regained control of the administration block and health clinic at the facility’s entrance, the situation was calm and food and medication had been distributed.
But other reports said the disorder had continued overnight. ABC News reported that extra police had arrived on the island.
A coroner is to investigate the weekend death of an Iranian Kurdish man, named by refugee groups as Fazel Chegeni, which is believed to have sparked the unrest.
Peter Dutton, the immigration minister, told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday: “There’s an operation under way. The government’s not going to cower in the face of the activities of some of these criminals.”
Dutton said police had settled some compounds on Tuesday. “The officers were met with little resistance,” he said.
In a statement, the immigration department said staff had re-entered to take control of some facilities, including administration areas and the health clinic, and the perimeter of the centre was being patrolled.
But refugee advocate Ian Rintoul told the Australian Associated Press guards were yet to re-enter compounds. “There’s been no attempt by Serco to go back into the detention centre yet,” he said.
He said an estimated 50 people slept on a sports oval overnight and there were fears among detainees that riot police would storm the centre.
Rintoul said Australian federal police were making announcements over loud speakers demanding detainees return to their rooms and discard weapons. “They have drones circulating above the centre,” he said.
The opposition immigration spokesman, Richard Marles, called on the federal government to detail what measures were in place to ensure the safety of detainees and staff. “It’s difficult to make an assessment about how this is being handled or whether rioting is being done, when there is so little information,” he said on ABC radio.
A UK-born detainee, Mick Tristram, said a group of about six Iranians had “started the trouble” by confronting three emergency response team guards, who retreated as a group of another 20 detainees looked on.
The ABC reported that detainees had barricaded themselves into a compound for protection.
It cited claims the unrest was provoked by an exchange between the group of Iranians and ERT officers who allegedly challenged them to go “one on one” in a physical confrontation and then made jokes about Chegeni.
