Australia to compensate asylum seekers

Unpublished
Canberra - A compensation payout of A$70m (£43m; $56m) by the Australian government to asylum seekers detained in Papua New Guinea has been approved by a judge. Canberra offered the settlement in June after 1,905 men alleged they had suffered harm in detention on PNG's Manus Island. The government called the deal "prudent", but denied wrongdoing. Australia sends asylum seekers arriving by boat to PNG and Nauru. The deal is believed to be Australia's largest human rights settlement. The Supreme Court of Victoria upheld the payout on Wednesday when Justice Cameron Macauley said he was satisfied that A$70m was an appropriate sum. More than 1,300 of the now 1,923 people who are part of the class action have registered for the settlement. The class action represents the majority of asylum seekers and refugees detained on Manus Island since 2012. The lawsuit alleged that detainees had been housed in inhumane conditions below Australian standards, given inadequate medical treatment and exposed to systemic abuse and violence. It also claimed their detention was illegal, pointing to a decision by PNG's Supreme Court.(FA)

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