Australia's asylum policies under the spotlight in 2016

2016 comes/came to a close with a cloud of uncertainty over Australia's plans to send some refugees from offshore detention to the United States. As reports, it ends a year that brought to light more details of the federal government's secretive asylum regime, as it tried to fend off condemnation at home and abroad.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (right) and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton tour the Australian Maritime Border Command Centre in Canberra Source: AAP