Manus Island

The Australian government says 1,600 refugees it has detained offshore for three years are eligible for resettlement in the US.

But the centre's head of legal advocacy, Daniel Webb, said there was no plan for the refugees the US leaves behind.

"This has been a pretty dark chapter in our history. It only ends and the government only gets to pat itself on the back when each and every person who is currently suffering at their hands on Nauru and Manus is rebuilding their lives in safety."

Under Australia's tough border security laws, asylum seekers intercepted trying to reach the country by boat are sent for processing at detention camps (regional processing centres) on Manus island and the tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru.

Some 1,300 people are currently held in the camps, many of whom have been held for more than three years.

About 900 men are in camp on Manus Island while about 400 people are in the camp on Nauru with roughly the same number living in the community.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull confirmed the agreement this morning, but did not provide any details on timeframes or the number of people involved.

Speaking in Canberra alongside Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, Turnbull said the deal would only apply to those currently on Nauru and Manus Island.

"There will be American officials from Homeland Security coming to Australia to begin the process in the next few days."

As of October 31, there were 872 people in the processing centre on Manus Island and 390 people in Nauru's centre.

Australia has run the controversial camps on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and on Nauru for the past three years, amid heavily criticism from human rights groups, NGOs, medical organisations and former staff.

Australia has run the controversial camps on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and on Nauru for the past three years, amid heavily criticism from human rights groups, NGOs, medical organisations and former staff.

The PNG Supreme Court has declared the Manus camp illegal and it is slowly being shut down but the Australian Government is adamant the asylum seekers and refugees will not be taken to Australia.

Speculation about such a deal has been prompted by the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's announcement that asylum-seekers who arrive by boat will be prevented by law from ever being let into the country.

The denial comes as a United Nations investigator arrives in Australia today for an 18-day visit to immigration detention centres.

The proposed Australian law would cover asylum-seekers on Manus Island and Nauru.

Speaking to PACNEWS in Dakar where he is attending the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Council of Ministers, Pato said his ministry will implement steps necessary to comply with the court ruling.

Pato says the processing centre houses 900 plus asylum seekers under the re-settlement arrangement executed between PNG Government and the Australian Government.

“This week the Court has ruled that those arrangements are unconstitutional and clearly we have a duty to comply with the decision of the court.  

He said while he was "concerned" about conditions within the offshore processing network, the Coalition did not want to encourage asylum seekers to risk their lives at sea.

Turnbull told Radio National's Drive program the Federal Government could not afford to take a backwards step on the issue.

"There will be no resettlement of the people on Manus and Nauru in Australia. They will never come to Australia," Turnbull said.

"Now, I know that's tough, we do have a tough border protection policy, you could say it's a harsh policy, but it has worked."

The three, who worked for a security contractor at the asylum seeker processing centre on PNG's Manus Island, are accused of raping another employee at the Australian-run centre.

Shortly after the alleged rape in July, the three were flown out of the country.

PNG police efforts to have the three extradited have so far been unsuccessful.

PNG's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said the three guards must be returned to be tried under the law in PNG, where rape convictions carry the death sentence.