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Fire at Australian asylum centre

James holland | 29.12.2002 11:28

A third fire in two days has been started, probably by detainees, at the Baxter refugee detention centre in South Australia.

The Baxter centre currently holds 215 refugees and was built to take the pressure off the over-crowded and controversial Woomera detention centre
Marion Le, from the Independent Council for Refugee Advocacy, said that the fires probably resulted from "pure frustration.....There's an extraordinary punitive environment. It's already getting a reputation that's equal to Woomera, if not surpassing it,"

James holland
- e-mail: jools@a16.org.uk