Australia began offshore processing of asylum seekers six years ago

It's been ((Fri 19)) six years since Australia announced no asylum seeker who arrived by boat would be resettled in Australia. Today, hundreds are living in limbo, detained on Manus Island and Nauru. On 19 July 2013, Australia's then-prime minister, Kevin Rudd, made the announcement that would mark the beginning of six years of offshore detention. It was targeted at people smugglers and was aimed at stopping drownings at sea.Earlier this year, Kevin Rudd defended his actions, saying that the drownings stopped. He blamed successive governments for continuing what was meant to be a temporary policy to last only 12 months, to be subject to review, and conducted to meet the UN standards on the proper humanitarian conditions for asylum seekers. Please listen to the full report in Pashto.

Source: AAP