Move all asylum-seeker processing onshore

"We wish we didn't have to be on Christmas Island and on Curtin. We wish that people weren't kept in detention", said Fr Sacha.

Sr Joan Kelleher is an Australian Mercy Sister who has been on Christmas Island since March, 2010. She spends around six hours in the detention facilities each day and candidly describes the overcrowding and challenges.

"At one point, there were 2,900 people and a boat of 81 people was down at the shore, waiting for the swell to calm before they were brought ashore, and yet the centre is already totally beyond its capacity. Because flights haven't been able to leave the island, they can't take people whose visas have been approved to the mainland because of the monsoon season, which means transfers of large numbers can't take place, only flights which hold six to eight people."

ACMRO Director Fr Maurizio Pettena CS says that he hopes the High Court judgement will lead to a huge shift of thinking on asylum policy in Australia and that the uncertainty involved in immigration can be lessened.

"Not knowing what awaits you is the worst thing for these people…if they knew that they would have a visa in 12 to 18 months, it would be something to look forward to, but that's not the case. Much of this is because of the lack of access to proper legal channels."

"The common opinion out there is that these are people who have taken the easy way to come to Australia, that they are illegals. This is simply dishonest. These people have every right to seek asylum in Australia."

Mere political expediency is no justification for detaining such people in remote areas, and we have much to answer for in how we treat people who flee persecution said Bishop Grech yesterday.

"Following this important ruling of the High Court, I call upon the Australian Government to take immediate steps so that asylum seekers currently held in detention would be afforded the protection and the justice enshrined by the Migration Act", Bishop Grech said.