AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday defended her decision to send asylum-seekers arriving by boat to Pacific islands, saying it was a "tough" policy but could save lives.
Canberra's plans to reopen shuttered camps on Papua New Guinea's remote Manus Island and on Nauru have prompted criticism from rights advocates who have described it as a backward step.
It also represents an about-face by the Labor Party which abandoned the policy after winning power in 2007, after complaints people had languished for years on the islands before being resettled under the previous government.
AFP
Monday, August 20, 2012
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