Easter Convergence at Woomera Immigration Detention

29 March 2002

It's hardly surprising we don't have too many photos of our own of this event, and had to rely on the professional media for pictorial reports. We were kinda busy that day.

This pic appears on The New York Times web site. View the whole article here.

If you were at this action - particularly if you've got some pictures - we would be very pleased to hear from you. Please email refugeeaction@hotmail.com quoting the date of the action.

From ninemsn.com: Events at the Woomera 2002 Festival of Freedoms moved quickly as protesters dismantled fences and detainees made a dash for freedom. Police surround the Woomera 2002 campsite and institute movement checks.

At 6pm, detainees began protesting inside the Detention Centre. They were quickly joined by around 1,000 people who bypassed the police roadblock, walked almost a kilometre toward the back of the Detention Centre, and dismantled the outer perimeter fence to join with them.

Protesters behind the wire had asked that protesters outside join them in some chants, some of which included: 'ACM, immigration mafia' and 'Freedom'.

Protesters ran to meet those behind the inner fence with cheers, messages of support and chants for freedom. At the fence, detainees spoke with people on the other side of the fence, and some made a courageous attempt to climb the fence and join the 1,000-strong crowd on the other side.

A hole was cut into the inner razor-wire fence that separated protesters, amd several detainees escaped. Estimates vary, but two or three of the escapees were recaptured by the police and immediately taken back the Detention Centre.

Alleging that the Woomera2002 campsite are harbouring escapees, police have established a roadblock on the road leading out of the Woomera2002 campsite, are doing identity checks on all people leaving the campsite, and have set up a cordon all around the campsite to ensure that no one gets in or out without being checked by police.

Conflicts have arisen between the Australian Protective Services (a Commonwealth security force) and the South Australian Police over who has the jurisdiction to make arrests of protesters at Woomera2002.

The South Australian Premier reached for that old favourite, the "rent-a-crowd" figure with which to lay the groundwork for police violently moving against the Woomera 2002 campsite.

Protesters have at each stage insisted that police not use violence against those on either side of the wire, but as yet there have been no assurances regarding this.

Latebreaking news: Detainees inside Woomera refused to let ACM (Australian Correctional Management) detention centre guards from conduct a headcount in order to ascertain just how many and which detainees had made it out of the Detention Centre.

ACM has responded with tear gas and beatings.

Guardian Weekly 15 April 2003 read the Guardian Weekly article about this book

Tear gas used on Woomera protesters

http://news.ninemsn.com.au, 07:53 AEDST Sat 30 Mar 2002
 
Guards at the Woomera Detention Centre used teargas to break up a group of asylum seekers who attacked them with bed posts and slingshots, an immigration spokesman said.

Up to 20 asylum seekers escaped from the troubled South Australian centre tonight after hundreds of refugee activists stormed a perimeter fence about 6pm (1830 AEDT).

Twelve escapees have since been recaptured, a spokesman for the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs said tonight.

"The mood at the centre is volatile," the spokesman said.

Australian Correctional Management (ACM) officers were called to a disturbance in the centre about 10pm.

"The 10 to 12 officers who attended were forced back into a fence and encircled by a large group of detainees.

"They attacked the guards with rocks, chairs, steel bed posts, slingshots and garbage bins."

The officers decided to leave the compound and "minimal teargas was used", the spokesman said.

No injuries were suffered during the incident but there was extensive damage to internal fences and bedding, he said.

Meantime, Woomera had been cordoned off with police roadblocks on every road out of the isolated township, a South Australian police spokeswoman said.

The blocks were expected to remain in place until police located the eight asylum seekers believed to still be at large.

No charges had been laid in relation to the protesters actions and the breakout, the spokeswoman said.

The situation was calm at the protesters' campsite about 1km from the detention centre, Refugee Action Collective member Natasha Verco said.