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"Open air prison"
Last month, Amnesty International accused the Australian government of turning Nauru into an "open-air prison."
Numerous human rights abuses have been documented at the centers.
In October, a UN committee report found multiple cases of "attempted suicide, self-immolation, acts of self-harm and depression" among children who had lived in prolonged "detention-like conditions."
Support for the offshore detention system -- which has cost Australia upwards of $7.3 billion, according to Amnesty -- remains strong in Canberra. Turnbull recently introduced new legislation that would prevent refugees and asylum seekers from ever settling in Australia if they came to the country by boat.
During the general election earlier this year, opposition leader Bill Shorten pledged a "more humane and safer approach to asylum seekers," but his Labor party remains committed to offshore detention.
Critics of the system operate under an "atmosphere of fear, censorship and retaliation," a UN investigator warned last month.
"Open air prison"
Last month, Amnesty International accused the Australian government of turning Nauru into an "open-air prison."
Numerous human rights abuses have been documented at the centers.
In October, a UN committee report found multiple cases of "attempted suicide, self-immolation, acts of self-harm and depression" among children who had lived in prolonged "detention-like conditions."
Support for the offshore detention system -- which has cost Australia upwards of $7.3 billion, according to Amnesty -- remains strong in Canberra. Turnbull recently introduced new legislation that would prevent refugees and asylum seekers from ever settling in Australia if they came to the country by boat.
During the general election earlier this year, opposition leader Bill Shorten pledged a "more humane and safer approach to asylum seekers," but his Labor party remains committed to offshore detention.
Critics of the system operate under an "atmosphere of fear, censorship and retaliation," a UN investigator warned last month.
