Workers Solidarity Movement

Christmas Island off the Western Australian is still reeling from last weeks insurrection from ‘asylum seekers’ at the islands detention centre. The breakouts were followed by three overnight riots at the centre in which accommodation tents and small buildings were burnt down as police fired tear gas and "bean-bag" bullets to quell rock-throwing rioters.

Since the unrest, hundreds of detainees have been flown off the island, with numbers at the Northwest Point facility now down from a peak of over 3000 to around 2000.

Pressure and tension has been building up for months with migrants becoming increasingly frustrated with the delay in their asylum applications being processed. Despite the Australian Federal Police claiming they are in full control of the Island it is believed over 20 migrants are still missing with many spending time on the beach or in the jungle.

As a result a key cornerstone of Australian immigration policy is now scrapped by the Federal Government. A boatload of asylum seekers found off Ashmore Reef last week is now bound for a mainland port, probably in WA, instead of being processed at the island. Taking asylum seekers straight to the mainland means they should be processed within 90 days, can be heard by the independent refugee review tribunal and have unfettered access to the courts to appeal any decisions.

Anarchists believe in equality between all people regardless of where their ancestors may be from, what colour their skin is, or where they were born, as we are all immigrants in one way or the other. We are struggling for a world with no borders were people are free to travel the world and settle where they wish – this is not a freedom that should be extended only to capital and wealthy elites who, supported by nation states, continue to subject humanity to exploitation, domination and coercive authority.