First Detainees Transferred to Baxter
Media Release - DPS 65/2002
The Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs confirmed that seven detainees are being transferred today from the Woomera detention facility to the new Baxter Immigration Reception and Processing Centre (IRPC) near Port Augusta, South Australia.
The group is the first to be transferred to the Baxter facility and comprises three men and four women from three families from Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Further transfers from Woomera, Curtin, Port Hedland, Perth and Maribyrnong detention facilities into Baxter will continue until the end of September. The initial population of Baxter will be approximately 270-280 detainees.
"Curtin IRPC will have no detainees following the transfers and will be mothballed and maintained as a contingency centre," a departmental spokesperson said.
"The Woomera facility will continue to accommodate detainees but its operation will be scaled down to approximately 110-120 detainees, while Port Hedland IRPC will operate with a population of approximately 170 detainees.
"The immigration detention centres in Perth, Villawood and Maribyrnong will also continue to operate," the spokesperson said.
6 September 2002
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