Christmas Island protests 'futile' say Australian immigration
January 29 2010 by Liam Clifford
'Applications are usually processed in 100 days' - Australian immigration minister.
Australian immigration has responded to the protest by Sri Lankan prisoners on Christmas Island by saying that it will have no effect on their Australian visa applications.
The peaceful protest is in response to the duration of the processing in their claims for asylum. It is believed that up to 350 detainees are taking part in the protests. So far the remonstration has past without incidence, the detainees impromptu vigil has seen them sitting in the exercise area and refusing to go back to their cells.
Australian immigration minister, Chris Evans, echoed other officials by saying that the sit-in would not affect the time taken to process claims; "I want to make it very clear to them and to the community, we're not going to be responding to this.”
“What we are going to do is ensure proper process is followed, that is people have to have had their health, identity and security checks and then they have to have been successful in their application for protection."
According to sources some of the detainees have been on the Island for upwards of 6 months. Evans said in his statement that the Australian visa claims were normally processed within 100-days; he did however acknowledge that some of the Sri Lankan nationals had been waiting longer than this.
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