Australia to pay A$70m to Manus Island detainees

The Australian government and its contractors have
 offered compensation totalling A$70m (£41m; $53m) to refugees detained in Papua New Guinea.

The 1,905 claimants had alleged they suffered harm
 while being held on PNG's Manus Island between 2012
 and 2016.

The government said it "strongly denied" the allegations
 but that settling was a "prudent" decision.

Australia turns away any refugees and asylum seekers
 arriving by boat and sends them to PNG and Nauru.

It says this deters migrants from attempting the life-threatening voyage to its shores in trafficking boats.

But the policy has been heavily criticised both at home
 and internationally, including by the United Nations.

The Manus case was due to be heard in the Victoria
 Supreme Court on Wednesday.

But shortly before the trial began, lawyers for the
 claimants said the government and its service providers 
had offered a last minute settlement of A$70m.

They also offered to cover costs estimated to be more
 than A $20m.

The full details of the settlement and the financial package
 are yet to be fully approved by the court.

Despite the millions of dollars it has cost, and the
 critical headlines it has generated, the Australian
 government is unlikely to regret its policy of sending asylum seekers offshore.

Telling refugees that they will not be allowed to enter
 Australia until their case has been processed seems
 to have been a powerful deterrent.

Just yesterday the prime minister boasted that more
 than 1,000 days had passed without a successful people-smuggling expedition to Australia.

The more pressing problem is what to do with the
 hundreds of refugees who remain on Manus Island and Nauru.

While the US has agreed to honour a deal to consider 
them for resettlement, it seems unlikely that all would
 pass the "extreme vetting" procedure.

And with the Manus Island centre due to close in October, time is running out for a long-term solution.

The principal lawyer for the claimants, Andrew Baker, 
said the settlement would help them to "put this dark chapter of their lives behind them".

But Australia's Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said
 the government "strongly refutes and denies the claims 
made in these proceedings".

In a statement, he said that had the case gone to trial
 it would have cost "tens of millions of dollars in legal fees alone, with an unknown outcome", and the government decided a settlement was a "prudent outcome for
 Australian taxpayers".

As of last year, residents were allowed to freely come
 and go from the facility but the debate over their
 resettlement is ongoing.

Australia has insisted that no-one held on Manus or
 Nauru will ever be re-settled in Australia.