Riots spark again in Australian refugee camp

Asylum seekers at a remote Australian detention centre held violent protests again last night, damaging five more buildings after rioters set fire to 15 structures earlier this week.

Authorities at the Woomera facility in South Australia state gained control of the camp after using tear gas and water cannons to disperse detainees who lit a fire and attacked a perimeter fence.

Firemen were called to the centre around 4.30pm Irish time.

‘‘Firefighters then spent the next four hours trying to extinguish several building fires from outside the perimeter fence,’’ a fire brigade spokesman said.

Almost 3,000 men, women and children are kept behind barbed wire in five such camps across Australia, while authorities review their applications for asylum. Some camps, like Woomera, are in remote locations.

Most of the inmates have fled humanitarian catastrophes in the Middle East and South and Central Asia, coming to Australia from Indonesia on boats organised by smuggling gangs.

Their applications for asylum are mostly processed within months, but some, including children, have languished in the camps for more than three years.

Attorney-General Daryl Williams, speaking as acting immigration minister, warned the Woomera protesters that the campaign would not intimidate the government into issuing refugee visas.

‘‘The message I think we need to get to the detainees who are conducting this criminal campaign is that vandalism is not going to get you a visa,’’ Williams said today.

He added that police were investigating the damage and those found responsible would be charged.

Later today, the United Nations Association of Australia called on Williams to choose an independent team of church and community leaders to assess the situation at Woomera.

‘‘Clearly both detainees and staff are angry and frustrated about their respective situations at the isolated Woomera camp,’’ national president Margaret Reynolds said.

The demonstration was the eighth fire related incident at the centre since November 20. The incidents have caused damage worth more than £530,000, the government said.