Refugees

The Australian Home Affairs Department said it has been the government's consistent position that Australia does not exercise effective control over regional processing centres.

The welcome mat is laid out for the return of Polish refugee children in Pahiatua, where their arrival 80 years ago has been wound into the fabric of the town's history.

More than 60 migrants are believed to have drowned in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said.

Australia has announced the number of people resettled under its Humanitarian Program has increased to 20,000 a year.