A majority of Australia's refugees and asylum seekers held in Papua New Guinea has written to the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, asking to be killed.
Detainees on Manus Island Photo: AAP
The letter by the 600 detainees held on Manus Island says there is no difference between them and rubbish, adding that they are tortured and traumatised as there is no country offering them protection.
Staff accommodation block at Manus Island Detention Centre in PNG Photo: EMTV
The letter, which has been made public by an Australian lawyer, Julian Burnside QC, says they have recommendations for Mr Turnbull as to stop the waste of taxpayer's money which it says is ruining Australia's reputation.
It proposes that Australia could dump them in the ocean, using a navy vessel.
Alternatively, a contractor could build a gas chamber or the health care provider could inject them with poison.
The letter says this is not meant as satire but to be taken seriously.
In March, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, released a report that found Australia's treatment of asylum seekers breached international conventions on torture.
The then-prime minister, Tony Abbott, said Australians were sick of being lectured to by the UN.
Beds at the Manus Island detention centre Photo: AFP