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SYDNEY - Three men, including two New Zealanders, awaiting deportation, were this morning refusing to come off the roof of the Sydney immigration detention facility where they spent last night.
New Zealand nationals Montana Kelly and Bruce Ngaromo and Van Nguyen, from Vietnam, were all recently released from prison.
They forced their way onto the roof early yesterday evening after their demands for reinstatement of their home visit rights were refused.
A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said Villawood detention centre management had so far failed to persuade the men to end their protest.
"The situation will be assessed this morning. Obviously they are being encouraged to come down voluntarily," she said.
"There are significant safety risks to them and to other persons with any effort to remove a person from a roof, so we'll just see how we go."
It was too early to say what disciplinary action the men, who used force to gain access to the roof, would face, the spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman said detainees whose visas had been cancelled on character grounds were banned from home visits for four weeks, except in exceptional circumstances, while a security review took place.
"In light of a detainee absconding on an excursion we have introduced this measure," she said.
All detainees in stage one of the detention centre were on a hunger strike in support of the three men and were also demanding the resumption of visits, Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Jamal Daoud said last night.
- AAP
