Human rights activists dispute Aussie policy

HUMAN rights activists, Amnesty International Australia, say it is poor practise for the Australian federal government to send children to its asylum seeker camp on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
The Australian government had begun transferring asylum seekers from Christmas Island to Manus, with four children and 15 adults sent last Wednesday.
Amnesty’s campaigns director Andrew Beswick said the group had great concerns about the physical and mental health of asylum seekers being sent to Manus.
“The issue there, in particular, is we don’t know how long these asylum seekers are going to be detained.
“The government is saying it could be up to five years.
“That is very poor practise to be punishing a group of people, in particular, the children (for such a length of time).”
Beswick said the Australian government’s offshore processing policy for asylum seekers was ill-conceived and rushed.