Protesters Oppose British Plan for Australian-Style Offshore Asylum Policy 
Campaigners say holding asylum-seekers in detention causes trauma; UK government hopes law would deter migrants from crossing the channel 
SYDNEY  — Refugee supporters have protested outside the British Consulate General in Melbourne Wednesday against a proposed U.K. law that resembles Australia’s controversial offshore detention policy. The protest, called by the Refugee Action Collective, takes place as British lawmakers debate the Nationality and Borders Bill. The British government hopes the overhaul of asylum legislation will deter migrants from crossing the English Channel from France. The proposed law contains powers to allow claims to be processed outside the United Kingdom. This could lead to applications being assessed in offshore centers. Australia adopted a similar policy almost a decade ago. Asylum seekers arriving by boat have been sent to camps on the tiny Pacific republic of Nauru or on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea with no prospect of resettlement in Australia. The government in Canberra has insisted tough border measures that have stopped migrants, often from Indonesia, trying to reach its shores by sea have saved lives. But the campaigners, who have gathered in a small protest outside a British diplomatic mission in Melbourne, have argued that offshore detention has inflicted “grievous physical and psychological” harm on migrants. David Glanz is a spokesperson for the Refugee Action Collective, a community campaign group. “The offshore processing model will lead to deaths. It will lead to psychological damage, and it will destroy the lives of innocent people fleeing from persecution and seeking safe haven. Offshore detention has been a cruel and racist disaster in Australia, and Britain should not follow the Australian path. It should turn back at this point and treat refugees as people who need help and not punishment,” Glanz said. Australia has ended its offshore detention agreement with Papua New Guinea, but a deal continues with Nauru, where about 100 asylum-seekers and refugees remain. Conditions at both centers have been criticized by rights groups. Australia grants visas to about 13,700 refugees each year under various humanitarian programs.