Australia's Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has announced an extra 70 federal police officers will be sent to Christmas Island to help deal with protests by asylum seekers.
Federal police already on the island used teargas and and so-called bean-bag bullets after about 250 detainees rioted overnight.
They had to be evacuated from burning buildings.
The Department of Immigration says the detainees were involved in a range of violent behaviour including rock throwing, vandalism, arson and theft, the ABC reports.
The protest was sparked by a letter asylum seekers received from Canberra stating security checks would be undertaken from April.
Christmas Island shire president Gordon Thompson says police have control of the situation and he is confident residents won't be affected by the violence.
