Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court has begun a human rights inquiry into Australia’s immigration detention centre on Manus Island.

The probe will assess whether the centre’s conditions meet human rights requirements under PNG’s constitution.

It comes ahead of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s visit to PNG on Thursday.

In February, one asylum seeker was killed and dozens were injured after violence erupted at the centre.

Asylum-seekers – mainly from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq and Iran – travel to Australia’s Christmas Island on rickety boats from Indonesia.

Australia sends asylum seekers arriving by boat for detention and processing in offshore camps in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific territory of Nauru.

Conditions in these camps have been strongly criticised by UN agencies and rights groups.

BBC

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