SYDNEY: Australia said on Sunday that it would pay rewards of up to Aus$200,000 ($180,000) for information leading to the conviction of people-smugglers, as it defended its tougher approach on asylum-seekers.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Friday announced that refugees arriving on unauthorized boats would have no chance of being resettled in Australia in a bid to stop the rush of asylum-seekers arriving by sea. Instead they will be sent to poverty-stricken Papua New Guinea for processing.

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