The Australian government on Wednesday agreed to close its off-shore asylum camp in Papua New Guinea after files leaked earlier this month showed over 2000 incidents of sexual abuse and assault, including against children.
No date has been set however, for the closure. Meanwhile, Australia's immigration minister stressed that no one would be settled in Australia.
"It has been the longstanding position of this government to work with PNG to close Manus and support those people as they transition into PNG or return to their country of origin," Peter Dutton was quoted by Reuters as saying in a statement.
"Our position, confirmed again today with PNG, is that no one from Manus Island Regional Processing Centre will ever be settled in Australia."
The prime minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter O'Neill, was quoted by the news site as saying: "Both Papua New Guinea and Australia are in agreement that the centre is to be closed."
"A series of options are being advanced and implemented. It is important that this process is not rushed out but carried out in a careful manner."
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