Six Sri Lankan men caught by Australian authorities while trying to get to New Zealand have staged a protest inside a packed immigration detention centre at Christmas Island.
The men were on their way to New Zealand to claim asylum when they were intercepted in early April in the Torres Strait, north of Queensland.
The Australian newspaper has reported the group's protest began on October 30 when one of the men climbed a light pole and stayed there until he was talked down eight hours later.
The six men are being housed in the detention centre's "red block" – built by the former government of John Howard to house the most dangerous and unstable detainees.
They are fighting Australian government plans to send them back to Sri Lanka.
There were 1160 people being held on Christmas Island as of Tuesday, most of them in the detention centre or under guard at a family compound.
3 News/RadioLIVE