Australia backs of after public outcry

Australia was set to allow yesterday an asylum-seeker's baby to remain in the country instead of being deported back to a remote Pacific detention camp, in what refugee advocates claimed as a victory after a public outcry.

Under Canberra's harsh immigration policy, asylum-seekers attempting to arrive in Australia by boat are sent to camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, where they are held indefinitely while their refugees applications are processed.

The one-year-old baby, named Asha and the child of Nepalese asylum-seekers, was held on Nauru with her parents before being brought to the Australian mainland for medical treatment last month.

Asha was due to be sent back to the camp after a court ruling in favour of the government's offshore immigration detention policy, but the hospital caring for her refused to release the infant until a "suitable home environment is identified".

There have been numerous protests against the strict deportation rules of Australia under the #LetThemStay campaign, with Australian church leaders also vowing to defy the government's immigration rules, offering sanctuary to the asylum-seekers.