Australia investigates asylum center abuse report

November 23, 2000
Web posted at: 10:34 AM HKT (0234 GMT)

ADELAIDE, Australia (Reuters) -- Australia's immigration minister on Wednesday ordered an inquiry into reports of child sexual abuse at a remote detention center for illegal asylum seekers.

"I am concerned that the material is sufficiently serious to warrant an investigation by Family and Youth Services," Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock told reporters.

Local media have reported during the past week that two nurses at the Woomera detention center in South Australia state had said a boy was sexually abused by his father and other detainees.

The 12-year-old boy was removed from the center by child protection officials, Ruddock said.

The allegations of abuse have spurred fresh calls by church and human rights groups for the government to end its policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers who arrive illegally in Australia.

The Woomera center, 450 kilometres north of Adelaide, holds mostly Middle Eastern detainees and was set up by the government after a flood of illegal arrivals in Australia in recent years.

More than 4,000 boatpeople, mostly from China and the Middle East, arrived in the year to June 30, 2000, up from 926 in the same period the previous year.

Woomera, a hot dry settlement on the edge of the desert, has has been the focus of controversy over the conditions in which detainees have been held.

About 100 asylum-seekers rioted at the camp in September, causing millions of dollars worth of damage.

Up to 700 detainees broke out of Woomera and the Curtin center in Western Australia in June to protest conditions there and the length of time they are held.

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