Commissioner: Close detention center

CANBERRA, Australia, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- The Australian government must stop detaining immigrants on Christmas Island, Human Rights Commissioner Catherine Branson said Friday.

The Australian navy intercepted a boat carrying 33 would-be immigrants Friday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. It was the third boat to be detained in three days and the 36th in 2009.

Christmas Island, a 52-square-mile dot in the Indian Ocean 1,600 miles northwest of Perth, already houses 1,129 detainees. Branson said Australia has adopted a two-tier policy, with immigrants who fly in receiving more legal protection than those who come by boat.

"Asylum-seekers should not be penalized because of their method of arrival,'' she said. ''The excision and offshore processing regime establishes a two-tiered system.''

The detention center on the island was created under the conservative government of John Howard. Branson said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should change course immediately.

But Immigration Minister Chris Evans said continuing to use Christmas Island is essential to "strong border control."