Talks on fate of PNG asylum seekers could take months

The fate of nearly 900 men held in an Australian detention center in Papua New Guinea is unlikely to be determined for several months, Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said on Monday.

That timetable could put the politically sensitive decision beyond a federal election on July 2, although Australia's tough immigration policy is expected to be a feature of one of the longest poll campaigns in the country's history.

The PNG government said two weeks ago it planned to close the detention center on Manus Island after the Pacific island nation's Supreme Court ruled it was unlawful, a decision that threatens to undermine Australia's closed door asylum policy. Each country has argued that the other is responsible for the fate of the men.