Karen Barlow and Alison McClymont, ABC
April 22, 2011, 12:57 am
ABC TV ©
A former immigration detention guard says the corporation running Australia's detention centres, Serco, has been throwing raw recruits into Villawood without proper training.
The former guard at Villawood, who wishes to remain anonymous, has revealed to the ABC's Lateline program a privatised detention system in crisis.
He says problems at the Sydney centre have been building for some time so he is not surprised about this week's riots.
"It's pretty unprecedented really. I've never seen anything like it before. In Villawood's entire history I don't think there's been that much destruction at all," he said.
Amid the charred destruction at the Sydney's immigration detention centre, the roof-top protest is continuing.
Australian Federal Police are now enforcing security at the compound after a small protest on Wednesday afternoon developed into a full scale riot involving around one hundred asylum seekers.
The detention centre was set on fire, while asylum seekers overwhelmed staff from the detention centre service provider, Serco.
The former guard says there would have been eleven staff members rostered on the night the asylum seekers rioted.
He says his former employer, Serco, does not train staff properly and would not have known what to do when trouble starts.
"From what I've seen, new recruits are basically put on the floor with no training whatsoever," he said.
"They were told that they would be trained as they worked and that also has never happened before. Basically what is supposed to happen is, they go through at least a six-week minimum course and then have a year of on-the-job training.
"Serco basically got rid of the six-week course using staffing levels as an excuse and basically threw the staff onto the floor and expected experienced staff to train them as well as do their normal jobs."
He says Serco has never emphasised emergency response training for incidents like fire and riots experienced on Wednesday night.
"I am led to believe they still don't have any real effective emergency operational procedures. So basically (Wednesday night) would have been every man for themselves," he said.
In a statement, Serco acknowledged an increased number of arrivals and longer periods of detention have placed significant pressures on their operations.
The company said its staff training program meets it contractual requirements and that it has provided additional training beyond what is contracted and has invested $1.5 million in staff training.
This is the second Australian immigration detention to be set on fire this year.
Riots at the Christmas Island detention centre in March led to tear gas and bean bag rounds being fired at asylum seekers.
The former Villawood guard says the Federal Government should review Serco's contract.
"They've had pretty poor performance. Basically the spate of incidents, major incidents, under Serco's control have been ... there's just been too many. So I really think that the contract should be reassessed," he said.
On the ABC's 7:30, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen denied he had lost control of the immigration system.
"I think when you are managing a large detention population you are also dealing with people around having their asylum claims rejected and the obvious frustration that causes you are going to have these issues," he said.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has condemned the protests, but blamed the Government.
"Australians are sick and tired of waking up to reports of detention centres being set alight of police being attacked by rioting asylum seekers," he said.
Those on the rooftop had their refugees claims rejected, some twice.
Iranian man, Majid, has been in detention for 20 months.
"Two years in a prison. What for? For freedom? For freedom? Is this human rights? I'm human. I need the freedom. I want freedom. I don't want prison. I want protection not detention," he said.
Mr Bowen has been personally ringing the men on the roof.
"He just asked me 'when you want to come down?' I said never. I don't want to come down never," he said.
The Government's review of last month's riots at the Christmas Island detention centre will also now investigate the Villawood protests.
Mr Bowen has told 7:30 that will include the response of Serco and the Immigration Department staff.
"There is no evidence before me to indicate that any actions by Serco or the Department of Immigration staff on the ground at the centres led to these incident or that the response was not adequate, but I am not going to pre-empt the results of the Hawke Williams review," he said.
"I am looking forward to receiving that review and if there are lessons to be learnt they will be learnt out of that review."
But it is these sorts of incidents that are making people near the sites of other detention centres nervous.
Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett says he is concerned about security at the new detention centre at Northam, while on Wednesday, north of Hobart, residents were angered by plans to build a detention centre in Tasmania.
Criminal charges may be laid against some of the asylum seekers involved in the Villawood riots.
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