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Pacific
Solution
·
On February
8, 2008 last
asylum
seekers,
group of 21
Sri Lankans,
left
detention
camp on
Nauru (for
Australia),
putting an
end to the
controversial
"Pacific
Solution"
immigration
policy.
·
The "Pacific
Solution"
was
introduced
in
2001 by the
government
of John
Howard,
in response
to a
reported
rise in the
number of
asylum
seekers
arriving by
boat.
·
Processing
centres were
set up on
Nauru and on
Manus Island
in Papua New
Guinea, the
governments
of the two
nations
receiving
millions of
dollars in
aid in
exchange.
·
The move
fulfils a
pledge by
new PM Kevin
Rudd
to end the
policy,
under which
people
arriving by
boat were
sent to
remote camps
for refugee
assessment
.
·
Republic of
Nauru, is
an island
nation in
the
Micronesian
South
Pacific.
·
The nearest
neighbour is
Banaba
Island in
the Republic
of Kiribati,
300 km due
east.
·
Nauru is the
world's
smallest
island
nation,
covering
just 21 kmē
(8.1 sq. mi),
·
It is the
smallest
independent
republic
·
It is the
only
republican
state in the
world
without an
official
capital.
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