Australia will conduct an investigation into reports on the death of some 20 Afghan asylum-seekers, who were denied entry to Australia by the Howard government, said Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans on Monday.
The probe into the Afghan deaths comes after a television documentary suggested that some 20 Afghan asylum seekers, who were deported back to their homeland, were killed by the Taliban on their arrival in Afghanistan.
The Edmund Rice Center, a social research group that looked into the report, said that it has proof of nine deaths of asylum rejected Afghans. Chris Evans, the new Australian immigration minister, has asked his department to look into the claims.
The previous government's Pacific Solution policy, under which the Afghan asylum seekers were denied entry into Australia, was dropped after the new government under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd came into power.
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