Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed that all remaining children on Nauru will soon leave the island for the United States.
Mr Morrison, alongside Immigration Minister David Coleman, said that there āwere 109ā children on Nauru when he became Prime Minister and that there were ānow only fourā, all of whom have been āapproved for departure to the United States of America with their families.ā
However, it is unknown when exactly the children and their families will depart the island.
In his announcement, Mr Morrison took aim at Laborās proposed policy towards asylum seekers, saying that it would effectively āunravelā the existing framework.
He said that āAustralia has one of the most generous humanitarian immigration programs in the worldā and that it could only be maintained with āstrong borders and insisting people come the right wayā.
He added that the Government had āsecured our bordersā, āstopped the boatsā as well as āthe tragic drownings at seaā.
Mr Morrison ended by saying that the Government had āgot the balance rightā between āsupporting children compassionatelyā without jeopardising border security.
This announcement comes after a large amount of pressure was placed on the Government to resettle refugee children who were reportedly suffering in detention on Nauru. In the House of Representatives, crossbenchers planned to use legislative measures to push for the Government to remove the children.
Labor and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten expressed satisfaction that the children were finally being resettled, commending progressive elements on all sides of politics for pushing for change.
Leader of the Greens Richard Di Natale said that while the news was positive, the policy that saw the children originally put in detention meant that they would āhave years of counselling ahead of themā and that some would be ādamaged for lifeā.