A riot brewing for most of the week inside Villawood detention centre has been resolved without police intervention, the immigration minister said.
The NSW police riot squad was put on standby, but its intervention in the centre was ultimately not required, Peter Dutton said on Thursday.
The unrest did not involve asylum seekers, but people convicted of a criminal offence who are about to be deported from Australia.
The rioting was confined to the Blaxland maximum security wing and there were no injuries.
Dutton said those involved in the protests were “hardened criminals ... who have had their visas cancelled … some of whom have committed armed robbery and manslaughter”.
He said the government would have zero tolerance for riotous behaviour or possession of illegal contraband inside the detention centre.
“It’s the law, and we will enforce it at every opportunity.”
Thursday’s resolution to the disruption inside the centre came after several days of rising tension. TVs were ripped from wall mountings and at least one fire lit in a rubbish bin.
Three alleged ringleaders were removed from the centre’s population.
During a raid earlier in the week, police seized suspected drugs, pipes, syringes, garden shears and smartphones.
In 2011, riots in Villawood caused $9m damage to the centre, when an office building and piles of wooden furniture were set alight.
Last year a memorandum of understanding was signed between the NSW police and the Australian federal police, defining the roles and powers of the police forces in the event of a disturbance.
