The President of Christmas Island Shire says he will be seeking a meeting with the island administrator and local police after the car he was travelling in was redirected away from the Christmas Island airport to allow vehicles transporting asylum seekers to pass through.
Gordon Thomson says a convoy of 20 cars, belonging to the immigration centre management company Serco and the police and carrying 24 asylum-seekers, was en route to the airport when he was turned away by police.
He claims the asylum-seekers, who he understands to be all Somalian men, have been flown to Nauru against their will.
Mr Thomson says the restriction of movement on a public road is a breach of civil liberties and is part of continued efforts by the federal government to conceal the movement of asylum-seekers off the island.
"It's kind of scary to think the government thinks that it can do whatever it wants without warning, without discussion or explanation, to close off part of the public roads," Mr Thompson told SBS World News Australia Radio.
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"And it's about making that transfer of refugees as secretive as possible. It's about preventing our access to the airport so we can't witness what is happening in our community."
Listen to the full interview by clicking on the audio tab above.
The Department of Immigration, SERCO and the AFP have declined to comment on Mr Thomson's claims.
