Christmas Island gears for asylum rush

Planning is under way for the possible transfer of hundreds of asylum-seekers back to the Australian territory.

Christmas Island Shire President Gordon Thomson.

Planning is under way for the possible transfer of hundreds of asylum-seekers from overseas ­detention back to the Australian territory of Christmas Island, ahead of a High Court ruling that could critically undermine offshore processing.

The Department of Immig­ration and Border Protection has commissioned repairs and upgrades­, including 25 new airconditioners, at a vacant Howard-era detention camp on Christmas Island known to locals as Phosphate Hill. It was most recently used to accommodate asylum-seeker families with children but has been vacant for a year.

It is believed the camp has fallen into disrepair in the heat and humidity of the tropical island, where monsoonal rainforest can quickly overtake fences and even buildings.

The Weekend Australian has been told the department’s contingency planning includes trying to find tradespeople to fix roofing and other amenities at the Phosphate Hill camp, next to the island­’s recreation centre and swimming pool. Separate work has been commissioned at the main detention centre on the other side of the island, called North West Point, following rioting by detainees last month.

The violence at the main detent­ion centre — used only for adult males — occurred after the escape and death of asylum-­seeker Fazel Chegeni. In the wake of extensive damage and fires, the government flew 20 detainees to Casuarina prison in Perth. None was an asylum-seeker.

Christmas Island Shire President Gordon Thomson said he believed the contingencies were related to the looming High Court decision on offshore processing policy.

Island administrator Barry Haase has said he would like the camp to be used as tourist ­accommodation but it ­remains under the department’s control.

Mr Thomson said Immig­ration Minister Peter Dutton told him during a recent visit to the island­ that the department had maintained ownership of the Phosphate Hill camp after asylum­-seeker families left last December — rather than handing it over to the Department of Infrastructure, which is respon­sible for Christmas Island — in case the High Court ruled against offshore processing.

“Mr Dutton told me … if the High Court case went against the government, they would need it to bring people back from offshore centres,” he said.

“Everyone on the island knows about this flurry of activity and it is in my view obviously a contingency.”

A spokeswoman for Mr Dutton said it was unlikely he or the department would be able to ­respond to a query about the ­upgrades and repairs last night.

The High Court case centres on a Bangladeshi woman who, despite being verified as a refugee by the Nauruan government, has been granted a visa that would confine her to the island’s immig­ration detention centre.

Refugee lawyers argue that the woman deserves the protect­ion of the Constitution and canno­t lose those protections by being detained at the behest of the government in a foreign country beyond the reach of Australian courts.

The High Court reserved its judgment in October, and indic­ated yesterday that it did not expect­ to deliver a ruling in the case before February.