VillAwood Detention Centre A No Go Zone

• NSW police "ready and willing" to break up protest

• Detention centre is Federal Government property

• Talks with remaining protesters have broken down

• Department "continue to engage with the protesters"

NSW police are ready and willing to break up the Villawood protests but the Federal Government won't let them into the detention centre.

Despite being in Sydney, the detention centre is Federal Government property - meaning state authorities can't set foot on it unless formally invited. A State Government source said police had been forced by federal authorities to sit on their hands.

The Immigration Department said it had chosen to handle the matter itself. However, negotiations with the remaining three protesters broke down yesterday.

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has called for the protesters to be forcibly removed and it is believed Premier Barry O'Farrell would happily send police in to oblige, but it is outside his jurisdiction.

Even the riot squad had to be invited on to the premises when the violence first broke out a week ago.

Mr O'Farrell has previously called for more clarity over law enforcement in centres.

State Police Minister Mike Gallacher will take the issue to the next Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management in July.The Immigration Department yesterday stood by its refusal to let NSW police handle the protesters, who have been on the roof for a week in the wake of the riots and fires which have sparked protests and unrest around the country.

"The department ... has well-established relationships with law enforcement agencies, however the department and the detention service provider are handling the situation at Villawood and continue to engage with the protesters, encouraging them to come down from the roof," a spokeswoman said.

"The department and the Australian Federal Police continue to monitor the situation at Villawood. However the department doesn't discuss operational planning."

Yesterday the protesters' negotiator pulled out of talks with Immigration after the department and the UNHCR representative "failed to give him any assurances about the cases of the three detainees". Dr Mohamed Al-Jabiri had been seeking a guarantee the men would not be prosecuted.

Meanwhile, two asylum seekers at the Perth Immigration Detention Centre received medical checks after threatening self-harm yesterday. And a small group of detainees at Christmas Island's Northwest Point facility came down from a roof where up to eight had been staging a protest since Tuesday.

Source:www.news.com.au