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.
