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The ever-present plight of refugees

Refugees are on the march around the world and countries where they seek haven are all looking how to deal with the issue - and in many instances treating people fleeing oppression and the likes of torture absolutely appallingly.

Australia's shame:

"The indefinite detention of asylum seekers on Nauru is ''an egregious breach of international human rights law'', says the Gillard government's hand-picked human rights commissioner, Gillian Triggs.

And in a separate development, Australia has told Sri Lanka - a country it has been returning asylum seekers to - that it must stop its police and army abusing, torturing and mistreating its citizens, and must end the disappearances and abductions occurring across the country.

Australia's demands to Sri Lanka were made in Geneva as part of the United Nations universal periodic review process, in which all UN countries have their human rights records assessed by fellow members."

Across in Israel:

"On Thursday, I traveled to the south with a group of journalists and bloggers to view the construction of new detention facilities around Ketsiot, near the Egyptian border. When completed, the four prisons in the area are meant to be able to hold more than 16,000 inmates, making them, together, the largest detention facility for immigrants in the West."

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