About two hundred men held at the Australian-run detention centre on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea are to be moved to a new facility within weeks.
The Australian immigration minister, Peter Dutton, says those who have failed to win refugee status and who are from countries such as Iran which precludes forced deportations, will be transferred to a new detention facility within PNG after October 31.
Australia's security contract with Spanish company Ferrovial will expire at the end of October, forcing the closure of the camp that has been subject to violence from locals.
Canberra's hardline immigration policy requires asylum seekers who try to reach Australia by sea to be sent for processing at camps on Manus Island and on Nauru.
They are told they will never be settled in Australia.
Meanwhile questions remain about the fate of the remaining men on Manus as a refugee swap deal with the United States appears to have stalled.
