A UN inspector who is being denied access to Nauru says Australia should not send asylum-seekers to its detention centres abroad.
A member of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Mads Andenas, says Nauru has revoked an invitation to the island, citing unforeseen circumstances.
Nauru has also effectively banned media by charging a non-refundable 8,000-dollar visa application fee for journalists.
Canberra has been undeterred by criticism that its actions violate international law and Nauru has now stopped the UN team.
Mr Andenas says Australia shuns some of its obligations.
"This must not happen because states have obligations not to transfer individuals to camps where individuals are held in violation of international law - as simple as that."
Mads Andenas of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention