Australia will seek to return Rwandans to PNG after unauthorised arrival in Torres Strait

The five men were found on Saibai Island (pictured), which is four kilometres from the Papua New Guinea mainland. Photograph: Saila Huusko

The Australian government will seek to persuade Papua New Guinea to accept the return of five Rwandans found in the Torres Strait in a bid to avert sending them to Nauru.

But Australia will require safeguards that the five men, who have claimed asylum, will not be returned to a country where they face persecution, otherwise it will activate its harsh Pacific solution of offshore detention.