'Sewn lips' protest ends, but tensions simmer

A protest involving hundreds of asylum seekers at an Australian immigration detention center in Papua New Guinea, some of whom had sewn their lips shut in protest, has ended without serious violence, authorities in both countries said on Tuesday.

Australia uses offshore detention centers in Papua New Guinea and the tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru to process would-be refugees trying to reach the country, often in unsafe boats after paying people-smugglers in Indonesia.

The detention center on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea was the scene of riots in February 2014, in which one asylum seeker was killed and more than 70 injured after residents overran the camp, attacking detainees.