The International Criminal Court has been asked to investigate Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his cabinet for allegedly committing crimes against humanity in their handling of asylum seekers.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has written to the court accusing the government of breaking international law by imprisoning and deporting asylum seekers and "other intentional acts causing great suffering".
The government's conduct in relation to asylum seekers also contravenes the Refugee Convention, Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Mr Wilkie says.
It is pursuing policies designed to deter people arriving by boat from seeking protection, Mr Wilkie says in a letter to the court.
"The effect of the policy is that men, women and children are being forcibly relocated and then subjected to arbitrary imprisonment through mandatory and sometimes indefinite detention," the letter reads.
"The conditions they are forced to endure in detention are causing great suffering as well as serious bodily and mental injury."
Human rights lawyer and advocate Greg Barns, who is working with Mr Wilkie to bring the government to task over the alleged offences, says the government is detaining asylum seekers in "inhuman conditions".
Comment has been sought from Immigration Minister Scott Morrison.
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