Government investigates 'unusual' powers to send refugees back to Manus, Nauru

The federal government is concerned that asylum seekers who leave Manus Island or Nauru for medical treatment may never go back due to a legal loophole.

A March 21, 2014 Asylum seekers staring at media from behind a fence at the Oscar compound in the Manus Island detention centre, Papua New Guinea. Source: AAP

The government is looking at using "unusual powers" to close what it says is a loophole that would prevent  asylum seekers transferred to Australia for medical treatment from being sent back to Manus Island and Nauru.

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