The premier of an Australian state offered on Saturday to look after a group of asylum seekers facing repatriation to a camp on a remote Pacific island, adding to opposition to the federal government's policy of offshore detention.
Daniel Andrews, premier of Victoria state, called on the federal government not to return the 267 refugees, including 80 children and their families, who had been brought to Australia from Nauru island for medical treatment.
"Victoria stands ready to assist and care for the children and their families," Andrews wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that Andrews posted on his Twitter account.