More boatpeople to call Leonora home
June 28, 2010 11:55 am
The Australian, June 28: The number of asylum-seekers in the Goldfields town of Leonora almost doubled over the weekend, to ease pressure on Christmas Island.
Last night, 45 mainly Afghan and Sri Lankan family groups arrived in the outback via a charter flight from the island. They joined 30 other family groups who arrived on Friday from Darwin and Brisbane and the original 83 asylum seekers who were the first to call the town a temporary home earlier this month.
Numbers could again increase, with Immigration Minister Chris Evans saying earlier this month that the town could house up to 200 asylum seekers eventually.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship also tried to reduce numbers on Christmas Island by transferring 19 Indonesian crew and 15 unaccompanied minors to Darwin yesterday.
The minors will be housed in motels while the crew members will be detained in the Northern Immigration Detention Facility, taking the number of people detained there to 462.
Numbers at Curtin Detention Centre were also boosted on Friday with 60 single Afghan men moved to the Kimberley, bringing to 318 the number of men detained.
The exodus means Christmas Island is now housing a total of 2,362 asylum seekers, though this does not take into account the 99 people expected to arrive after a boat was intercepted by the navy on Saturday. Shire of Leonora CEO Jim Epis said yesterday the community remained supportive of the new arrivals and the children will attend the local school from next term after already being measured for new uniforms.
The school is expected to receive another four teachers and three demountable classrooms.
The families have been allowed to leave the disused mining camp where they are being detained to go on supervised trips to the Leonora’s recreation centre. But local resident Neil Biggs said he would like to see the children “out on the street more”.
“It’s not the kids’ fault, let them get out,” he said. Mr Biggs, a butcher, said he was disappointed that the company responsible for providing meals for the asylum seekers, contractor NT Link, had not bought meat from his shop.
The department of immigration has said that food for asylum seekers and staff come from Kalgoorlie but that immigration workers, who each receive daily remote living allowances of about $100, would patronise local shops.
Mr Biggs’ frustration has long been felt by Christmas Island residents, where the main supermarket has permanently shut, citing poaching of staff by the immigration department.