Australia is considering resettling refugees from detention camps in Nauru and Manus Island to Kyrgyzstan, local media reported Saturday.

–

MOSCOW (Sputnik)According to The Australian newspaper, Kyrgyzstan is being considered as an option for refugee resettlement, especially of Afghanistan’s Hazara people, as some have been held in detention camps for over two years. Australia is also considering some countries in Africa and South America, the newspaper reported.

"We are having conversations with other countries to support our offshore processing arrangements and when we're in a position to make relevant announcements, the minister for immigration will do," Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told Sky News.

Australia has been facing growing criticism from human rights advocates over the treatment of asylum seekers arriving on Australian shores in search of refuge.

Refugees, including young children who come to Australia seeking asylum, are settled in offshore detention camps at the nearby island of Manus in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, which had been criticized by rights groups for inhumane living conditions.

Earlier this month, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said Australia was in talks with Philippines for the resettlement of undocumented immigrants who have been refused asylum by Canberra.

Australia has an existing agreement with Cambodia, signed in September 2014, to pay Cambodia nearly $30 million for refugee resettlement. Under the deal, Cambodia agreed to host an unlimited number of refugees that had been turned away from Australia.