Asylum-seekers in a detention centre in Papua New Guinea said Sunday that Canberra was holding them "hostage" in an effort to deter others from paying people-smugglers to bring them to Australia.
After days of hunger strike protests on PNG's Manus Island, refugee advocates said asylum-seekers were continuing to protest against their 18 months of detention in the offshore location.
"The Australian government is planning to resettle us in PNG against our will, by forcing us," asylum-seekers wrote in a letter distributed by the Refugee Action Coalition.
"We are not willing to be resettled in PNG because there is no safety (or) any future for us and our family.
"Today we consider us to be hostage for the Australian government so they can deter others not to come to Australia."
Asylum-seekers who try to enter Australian waters on unauthorised boats are sent to offshore detention centres on Papua New Guinea and Nauru in the Pacific with no prospect of being settled on the mainland - even if they are genuine refugees.
The policy is designed to stop the flow of boatpeople arriving in Australia, who had been arriving almost daily in often unsafe wooden fishing vessels, with hundreds drowning en route.
Australia has faced criticism for its treatment of asylum-seekers since the hard-line policy was introduced in July 2013.
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