Leonora to house refugee unaccompanied minors

ASYLUM-SEEKERS have been removed from the remote Leonora detention centre ahead of the arrival of about 70 unaccompanied minors.

ASYLUM-SEEKERS have been removed from the remote Leonora detention centre ahead of the arrival of about 70 unaccompanied minors from Christmas Island as early as tomorrow.

They will be from among the 335 asylum-seekers destined for deportation to Malaysia under the now defunct refugee swap deal. They will be the first of that group to arrive on the mainland.

The last 28 asylum-seekers were flown out of Leonora's desert camp, 830km northeast of Perth, last Monday.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship confirmed 20 people had been sent to the Inverbrackie detention centre in South Australia, and a further eight to the Darwin airport lodge.

Leonora Shire chief executive Jim Epis said department officials had told him the children would arrive early in the week.

"Next week there will be about 70 unaccompanied teenage males, aged between 14 and 17," Mr Epis said. "But for how long they will stay, I'm not too sure."

An Immigration Department spokesman would not comment on the arrival of unaccompanied minors. But he said Leonora was not being shut and would continue to be an option for temporary detention.

The department said there were 71 unaccompanied minors on Christmas Island among the 335 who would have been affected by the Malaysia deal. At least another 14 have arrived since the High Court ruled the arrangement unlawful last month.

Refugee advocate Gerry Georgatos said Leonora was no place for unaccompanied minors.

"How can you call a semi-arid location, 830km from Perth, community detention?" he said.

"They are too far away from the full suite of services. There isn't a psychologist resident in Leonora or heavy duty medical services."

Leonora butcher and ground handling manager at the airport Neil Biggs wants the teenagers to be given more freedom.

"I just wish they'd be allowed out to play some sport," Mr Biggs said. "They won't have a problem. Where are they going to go to? The nearest town is 110km away."

He said the teenagers should be allowed to work in the community and he hoped they would be taught at the local school.

Mr Epis said unaccompanied minors would not make much difference to the family groups previously held at Leonora. "We didn't want to have adult males here originally," he said.

"So the department's been good on that request.

"I suppose, these being juveniles, I can't really see too much problem with them either."