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Twenty-two “persons of interest” have been taken from the Villawood immigration detention centre to Silverwater gaol as police investigate Wednesday’s arson attacks and riot.
Although Department of Immigration officials have always been at pains to clarify that Villawood is not a gaol, the NSW Department of Corrective Services shows no such modesty about Silverwater.
The transfer represents a welcome return to form for the NSW Government: the state opened its first mandatory detention centre for boat arrivals in 1788.
The decision to move detainees to a gaol has outraged those in the community who wanted to see them moved to an environment more conducive to meeting their particular needs, such as the airport.
Observers say there’s likely to be more unrest at Villawood unless officials remove those aspects of the immigration detention system that most aggravate asylum seekers: roof tiles, emergency services, things that burn, the word ‘no’ and the concept of immigration detention.
Refugee advocates say the detainees probably only turned to arson because of poor living conditions at Villawood. Some of the centre is, for example, extensively fire-damaged.
Other parts are well above capacity, such as the roof.
