Around 250 detainees have broken out of the Christmas Island detention centre, frustrated at the long delays processing their refugee claims and the feeling of hopelessness caused by being kept in detention. Asylum seekers are coming and going from the detention centre peacefully. Some have used their freedom to visit friends and relatives in the family compound that in usual circumstances they are cruelly prevented from seeing.
This latest episode makes it clear that Christmas Island, along with all the other detention centres, must be closed. The over-crowding, the lack of resources, the remoteness make Christmas Island a particularly unsuitable place for asylum seekers. In recent months both the Commonwealth Ombudsman and the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission have condemned conditions there.