The Foreign Minister of Papua New Guinea has today spoken out in support of Australia's asylum seeker policy at the 70th UN General Assembly in New York.
The PNG Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato Photo: Koro Vaka'uta / RNZ
PNG hosts an Australian-run asylum seeker camp on Manus Island.
Rimbink Pato told the General Assembly that PNG lamented the growing refugee crisis across the world and that it stood by Australia's asylum seeker detention policy as an effective deterrent.
"We are currently working closely with the government of Australia by providing an asylum seeker processing facility and contributing to finding lasting solutions to this global challenge. We strongly believe that it is high time that the global community seriously address the root causes of the refugee situation and the forced displacement of people and families."