Asylum seekers held on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island could be transferred to Australia's other detention centre on Nauru.
The newspaper The Australian reported that Nauru's Justice Minister David Adeang offered to take Manus asylum seekers who refuse to be repatriated.
Photo: RNZ / Walter Zweifel
About 200 asylum seekers on Manus have until the end of August to apply for repatriation before the centre is closed in October.
Mr Adeang said there was extra capacity at the processing centre on Nauru to accommodate people who passed security checks.
He said as the centre on Nauru was open, only asylum seekers able to assimilate into the community would be accepted.
Meanwhile, about 1200 refugees detained by Australian on Manus and Nauru are waiting to hear if they'll be resettled in the United States or are forced to stay where they are.