Riot destroys most of asylum-seeker processing facility on island, with detainees being moved to second, incomplete site
There are no plans to move any asylum seekers detained in Nauru to detention in Australia despite the regional processing centre on the island being almost totally destroyed in a riot last night, the department for immigration (Diac) has confirmed.
A spokesperson for the department said all detainee accommodation at the regional processing facility had been burned down and the centre's administration offices, medical facilities and dining room had also been destroyed.
416 detainees have been transferred to a second "black soil site" on the island which has no permanent accommodation and is described as "flat", whilst 129 detainees have been detained by Nauru police and are being held at the island's watch house. The spokeswoman said all detainees were now accounted for despite a large number of attempted escapes in the riot on Friday night.
The "black soil" site, known as a regional processing centre two, is understood to be where a second accommodation site for families was due to be constructed. The spokeswoman told Guardian Australia that tent marquees were being constructed to house detainees and water supplies were being installed.
The riot began on Friday afternoon following a peaceful protest that had been going on at the regional processing facility for the past week. Diac would not comment on the reasons but Guardian Australia understands more than 100 asylum seekers housed on the island had been protesting about the time being taken to process their asylum claims. There had been unconfirmed reports of self-harm incidents involving a small number of detainees on the island during the past week.
Diac has confirmed that all non-essential staff on Nauru will be moved back to Australia but had no information on whether additional security staff had been called in.
On Friday Kevin Rudd announced a controversial new deal on asylum with the government of Papua New Guinea. It means all asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat will be transferred to PNG and processed there. The prime minister declared no one arriving by boat without a visa would end up being able to settle in Australia. The riots on Nauru began before Rudd's announcement and it is understood they did not start as a result of the policy.
A number of protests in Australian cities were held on Saturday against the new asylum deal. In Sydney around 1,000 people rallied in the centre of the city and in Melbourne around 600 people were understood to have marched, with another rally held in Canberra. Events in Brisbane and Adelaide were being planned for Sunday and Monday.