Protests held thru Australia against Donald Trump’s travel ban

Australia’s delicate refugee resettlement deal with the US has brought thousands of people on to streets , complaining the US president’s immigration ban and demanding an end to Australia’s offshore processing policy of asylum seekers.

The deal, allegedly, is for the US to resettle up to 1250 refugees from Australia’s offshore detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru, where refugees have been held for more than three years.

It had also are the subject of sustained criticism over systemic violence by guards, sexual assaults, including of children, and deaths from murder, suicide and inadequate medical care.

The refugee agreement has spent the week in furious on-again, off-again debate. The president’s fraught phone call over the issue with the Australian prime minster, Malcolm Turnbull, briefly dominated the international news agenda.

The deal, and Australia’s continued support for offshore processing, has sparked protests across cities, including Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Newcastle and Hobart.

In Sydney on Saturday, protesters marched to the US consulate, chanting “Dump Trump”.