Australia has been warned by the UN that it may be breaching international law by detaining children as part of its asylum seeker policy.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has urged Australia and other countries to end their detention of children, pleading with the community to provide housing options for underage asylum seekers, Xinhua reported.
"Detention of children is illegal under international law," Thomas Vargas of UNHRC added.
However, Australia's Immigration Minister Scott Morrison believes the country is doing its utmost to protect children in detention.
Morrison also revealed that the federal government is in the midst of a long-term plan that would see all underage refugees out of detention centres.
"There is now an almost 50 percent reduction across all centres...," he added.