PNG solution

The Regional Resettlement Arrangement between Australia and Papua New Guinea, colloquially known as the PNG solution, is the name given to an Australian government policy in which any asylum seeker who comes to Australia by boat without a visa will be refused settlement in Australia, instead being settled in Papua New Guinea if they are found to be legitimate refugees. The policy includes a significant expansion of the Australian immigration detention facility on Manus Island, where refugees will be sent to be processed prior to resettlement in Papua New Guinea, and if their refugee status is found to be non-genuine, they will be either repatriated, sent to a third country other than Australia or remain in detention indefinitely. The policy was announced on 19 July 2013 by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, effective immediately, in response to a growing number of asylum seeker boat arrivals. The then Opposition Leader Tony Abbott initially welcomed the policy, while Greens leader Christine Milne and several human rights advocate groups opposed it, with demonstrations protesting the policy held in every major Australian city after the announcement.

The topic of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat, or irregular maritime arrivals (IMAs) has been a highly contentious issue in Australian politics since the government of John Howard. The Pacific Solution policy was first implemented in 2001 following a rising number of IMAs culminating in the Tampa affair and the Children Overboard affair, introduced the practice of intercepting asylum seeker boats and transferring the occupants to the Nauru detention centre for processing, as well as Manus Island OPC in Papua New Guinea. This was successful in slowing the number of asylum seeker arrivals by boat—from 5516 arrivals in 2001 to 1 arrival in 2002—but the conditions of the offshore processing centres, the lack of independent scrutiny, and the mental health impact on the occupants, attracted significant criticism and controversy.

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