An human rights lawyer says a video of Australian immigration minister telling asylum seekers they will never be welcomed in Australia is an attempt to intimidate them into hopelessness.
The video of Scott Morrison has been shown to detainees on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
In it, Mr Morrison says the asylum seekers have the option to return to where they came from or be held in the centre for a very long time.
An Australian lawyer specilaising in human rights, Julian Burnside, says Mr Morrison is trying to make Australia harsh and hostile to put off asylum seekers.
"What Morrison is trying to do is make the idea of seeking asylum in Australia look less attractive than standing your ground and facing the Taliban. The bottom line is that he wants to make Australia look uglier or nastier than the Taliban, and that's something which I think is a disgrace."
Julian Burnside says video is part of the Scott Morrison's grotesque approach to human rights and refugees.
