The Australian immigration minister, Peter Dutton, has met Papua New Guinea’s prime minister, Peter O’Neill, for talks about closing the Manus Island detention centre. “Both Papua New Guinea and Australia are in agreement that the centre is to be closed,” he said in a statement. The PNG supreme court in April ordered the closure of the Manus Island processing centre. The country’s highest court found that the detention of asylum seekers and refugees there was illegal and in breach of the country’s constitution. They contained reports of physical and sexual abuses, humiliating treatment and harsh conditions, and widespread self-harm and suicide attempts.

Source: The Guardian August 17, 2016 06:11 UTC