Two Chinese men have climbed onto the roof of Villawood Detention Centre in a desperate bid to avoid deportation back to their homeland, sources from Australian Sydney Morning Herald and AAP on May 27.

The men, who have been in detention for two and four years and one of whom is believed to be a Falun Gong practitioner, took the extreme action after they were among detainees listed for deportation by Immigration Minister, Senator Chris Evans, on Friday.

They are determined not to budge from the third storey of the Manning building at stage two of the centre, which they climbed at about 8:45am yesterday.

The men will remain on the roof indefinitely until the Immigration Minister Chris Evans reconsiders their cases.

"They're on the pathway to removal at this stage and clearly we've got to get them off the roof in order to take the next steps," an Immigration Department spokesman told AAP.

The spokeswoman said the men had been provided with food, water and bedding, but would not say whether the men had taken the food and water.

They have accepted food and blankets during their protest but have indicated they will not come down unless their demands are met.

However the government says they have nothing to gain by maintaining their protest.

(Facts.org.cn, May 27, 2008)