Australia's prime minister Tony Abbott has defended the standard of the country's detention centres abroad, saying the government won't apologise for them not being five-star hotels.
The United Nations refugee agency and Amnesty International have strongly criticised the centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea, raising concerns about the treatment of asylum seekers and their health and welfare.
But Mr Abbott says those housed at camps were there because he or she has come illegally to Australia by boat.
He says if stopping the boats means being criticised because he is withholding information that would be of use to people smugglers, so be it.
Australia re-opened its detention centres abroad in late 2012 and since July, Canberra says asylum applicants arriving by boat will be refused settlement in Australia should they be declared to be refugees.
