Groups blast Australia's 'abuse' of asylum seekers on Nauru

Australia is deliberately failing to combat the abuse of asylum seekers on the Pacific island of Nauru to deter others from arriving by boat, two global human rights groups said Wednesday.

The report by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch is a scathing criticism of Canberra's immigration policy under which asylum seekers trying to reach Australia by boat are taken to Papua New Guinea or Nauru.

The government, which said Wednesday it rejects the report's allegations, has a policy of refusing asylum seekers settlement in Australia and keeping them in the Pacific islands or returning them home, even if they are refugees.