SYDNEY: Australia will deport asylum seekers who arrive by boat to remote islands in the Pacific, under tough new proposals to deter refugees from reaching the country by sea.

In a significant U-turn for the ruling Labor party, Julia Gillard said her government had accepted the recommendations of a panel of experts to reopen processing camps on the Pacific island of Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.

Legislation to enable deportation of asylum seekers would be introduced when parliament resumes on Tuesday, the prime minister said.

The decision comes after months of political wrangling which came to a head in June when two boats carrying refugees capsized north of Christmas Island within a week of each other, killing at least 90 people.

Gillard, like the opposition Conservative party, argued that refugees should be processed offshore, but the two main parties differed over exactly where. Without a majority in parliament - and without the support of the Greens (who hold the balance of power and oppose offshore processing), Gillard was unable to get legislation through parliament.

On Monday Gillard said her government had accepted the recomendations of the expert panel convened six weeks ago to find a political solution. “What this report is calling on parliamentarians to do is to compromise and to act. This report is telling us not to stay in our fixed positions but to act and get things done,” she said. “When our nation looks at what is happening at sea, too many lives have been lost.”

The announcement drew immediate condemnation from human rights groups who say it would be a breach of Australia's international obligations. Pamela Curr, of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, described the report as “a comprehensive package of harm”.

She said: “People will still drown. What this [report] is making sure is that people drown elsewhere and don't drown right in front of us.”

More than 600 refugees have drowned in the past three years. The panel recommended refugees be sent to Nauru and Manus Island for processing as a disincentive to others considering undertaking the dangerous voyage to Australia.

By arrangement with the Guardian