Australia: Mass Escape from Woomera Detention Centre
by - 04.07.2002 14:54
34 asylum seekers escaped from the woomera detention centre in the South Australian desert on the night of June 26, 2002.
Ten of the 35 asylum seekers involved in the break-out remain free. Among them are two boys aged 12 and 14.
Four people have been arrested for aiding the escape. Three of them have been released on bail from Pt Augusta police station.
According to a report the break-out happened at about midnight, when protesters with vans drove up to the centre. The fence was then broken through. Police have set up road blocks and are searching an area of 200,000 square kilometres.
The breakout occurred on the fourth day of a hunger strike by most of the detainees in the centre. It also follows previous breakouts during the easter woomera 2002 protests and a mass breakout by detainees in 1999. The hunger strike is being continued.
Protesters in Melbourne converged on Maribyrnong Detention Centre for a festival and civil disobedience against mandatory detention last weekend.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/woomera-archive.php3
According to a report the break-out happened at about midnight, when protesters with vans drove up to the centre. The fence was then broken through. Police have set up road blocks and are searching an area of 200,000 square kilometres.
The breakout occurred on the fourth day of a hunger strike by most of the detainees in the centre. It also follows previous breakouts during the easter woomera 2002 protests and a mass breakout by detainees in 1999. The hunger strike is being continued.
Protesters in Melbourne converged on Maribyrnong Detention Centre for a festival and civil disobedience against mandatory detention last weekend.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/woomera-archive.php3