Detention of Asylum Seekers Spurs Rallies
At least 30,000 people around Australia rallied to protest against the government’s policy of detaining asylum seekers, police and government officials said.
More than 15,000 protesters lined streets around Melbourne Town Hall to hear speakers call for an end to mandatory detention.
The government patrols waters between Indonesia and northern Australia to prevent people smugglers from dumping asylum seekers along the remote coastline.
Those caught are sent to detention centers in Papua New Guinea and Nauru until their asylum applications have been processed.
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