A regional asylum seeker processing centre could help solve the challenging political and humanitarian issue, aid organisation Oxfam says.
Oxfam's latest briefing paper on asylum seeker management, released on Wednesday, said policies sharply focused on offshore processing put the matter in the "too hard" basket.
But Oxfam executive director Andrew Hewett said a comprehensive regional approach could potentially include a regional processing centre, if it was done properly.
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"A genuine regional protection framework could be the key to unlocking a difficult political and humanitarian problem," he said in a statement.
"A regional processing centre as part of a broader regional protection framework could be used to help strengthen the
processing of asylum claims within the region."
Mr Hewett said such a centre could deter asylum seekers from making the long and dangerous boat journey to Australia.
But if they did make it, their claims should be locally processed, he said.
The briefing paper has been given to the federal government and opposition.
