Australia’s highest court has upheld the government’s role in detaining of asylum seekers in poor Pacific-island nations, in a ruling that is likely to be watched in Europe as it battles its own migrant crisis, reported the Guardian.

‘In a setback for refugee advocates, the High Court of Australia rejected an argument that offshore detention of asylum seekers in a third country should be illegal, a policy that has drawn repeated condemnation from the United Nations and rights groups.’

‘Successive Australian governments since 2001 have overseen policies of sending asylum seekers on offshore detention in Nauru and neighbouring Papua New Guinea while claims for refugee status are assessed, often for lengthy periods lasting more than a year. When it was launched, the Australian government amended legislation to back up the legality of offshore processing.’

‘The latest legal challenge against military-backed policies to blockade migrant boats at sea was brought by a Bangladeshi woman sent to an Australian-backed detention centre in Nauru.’

‘The Court held, by majority, that the plaintiff was not entitled to the declaration sought,’ the court said in its ruling Wednesday.

‘Some anti-immigration politicians have looked to Australian policies as a potentially partial solution, while Brussels has called for an Australian-style paramilitary border force to police the bloc’s borders.’