The Greens have expressed concern for the safety of all detained asylum seekers after seven young males were taken to hospital after a brawl broke out at a Melbourne immigration detention centre.
Police and ambulance officers were called to the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation centre in Broadmeadows, in Melbourne's west, after a fight broke out between a group of males on Sunday night.
Ambulance Victoria spokesman Paul Bentley said seven boys aged about 15 to 18 years old were taken to hospital with cuts and bruising, with one possibly having a fractured nose.
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Another three boys were treated at the scene.
Ambulance paramedics were called about 8.30pm (AEDT), about an hour after police were called to the scene.
Mr Bentley said when paramedics arrived, the brawl had been broken up.
"When we arrived they had all been moved to another area from where the brawl had been," Mr Bentley told AAP.
A police spokeswoman said police were still investigating the brawl, but no charges had been laid. Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young says mandatory detention creates an unsafe environment for detainees, especially unaccompanied minors.
"We know that when people are detained for long periods of time tensions rise," she told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
"We really need to ensure that there is a better system."
A Department of Immigration media spokesman said he was still seeking details about the incident, including whether the boys involved were staying at the centre with their families, or were unaccompanied minors.
