MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The nationwide rallies broke out the day after the High Court of Australia ruled that the country's practice of detaining migrants in offshore facilities is legal. The decision paves the way for hundreds of asylum seekers to be deported from Australia to offshore detention camps.
According to The Guardian newspaper, residents of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Newcastle, as well as country's capital of Canberra, took to the streets to protest against the court's decision.
The newspaper added that many of the protesters carried banners reading "Just like me," "Welcome Asylum Seekers" and "#LetThemStay."
It is Australia's policy to detain refugees who come to the country to seek asylum in offshore detention camps, on the islands of Manus in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, which have been criticized by rights groups for their inhumane living conditions.