Australian officials also warned asylum-seekers not to be lured into false promises by "people-smugglers," in this regard and urged them to adopt legal routes for their claims to be counted.
Explaining the new policy which has the support of the government and the opposition, Australian Consul-General for South India, David Holly said the decision was taken in the face of "dangerous" boat travel the asylum-seekers take in order to reach the country.
"It is a long way to travel to Australia by boat and it is dangerous," he told reporters here. There have been cases of fatalities too.
According to the new policy, anyone coming to Australia by boat would be transferred to Nauru irrespective of whether they come with their families or if they were minors.
This would deprive them of the opportunities to work and earn in Australia, he said, adding, 46 Sri Lankans accommodated there had recently volunteered to return home.
"Under this policy, there is no guarantee that people who arrive by boat will ever come to Australia. There is no advantage for them," he said.
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Describing those luring the asylum-seekers to travel by boat as "people-smugglers," he said Australian authorities were working with various countries including India and Sri Lanka to break this network.
"We are working with police of the four southern states and Tamil Nadu government has conveyed this message to Sri Lankan refugees through NGOs and police," he said.
He however, denied this was a "Sri Lanka-specific policy," as asylum-seekers' comprised of different nationalities including Afghans and Iranians.
He said Australia with its good economic condition and low inflation rate was growing well and looking forward to take people in, provided they adopted the proper asylum routes.
A handout provided by the Consul General put the number of Irregular Maritime Arrival to Australia till September 2012 at 10,278. A total of 3,536 of them were Sri Lankans.