Amnesty condemns Australian asylum policy

Human rights group Amnesty International has condemned the Australian government over its new immigration policy.

At the launch of its report into human rights abuses, the secretary general of Amnesty, Irene Kahn, admonished Canberra's plan to process asylum seekers arriving by boat at an off-shore facility in Nauru.

"That we feel would be a violation of the UN convention on refugees and Australia's obligation under that convention," she said in London.

Amnesty says assessing asylum seekers at an off-shore centre could be an abuse of human rights.

It says Australia is setting a dangerous precedent which other countries in the Asia-Pacific region could follow.

- RADIO AUSTRALIA