During a visit to Australia, US Vice President Mike Pence confirmed that Australia’s refugee swap deal will go ahead, saying that ‘The US intends to honour the agreement – subject to the US vetting process’.
Immigration minister Peter Dutton alleged that asylum seekers led a five-year-old Papua New Guinean boy into the Manus Island detention centre, causing ‘angst’ and leading to the altercation between asylum seekers and PNG police on Good Friday. PNG police dispute this account.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection is using targeted advertisements via YouTube to discourage asylum seekers from attempting to reach their shores via people-smuggling boats.