Former prime minister Tony Abbott says Nauru is being unfairly portrayed as a "hell-hole" when it is in fact a "very pleasant" place.

Key points: Tony Abbott said medical facilities on Nauru were better than in some Australian towns

Tony Abbott said medical facilities on Nauru were better than in some Australian towns Medical groups have called for the immediate removal of children from Nauru

Medical groups have called for the immediate removal of children from Nauru Labor said it shouldn't be taking the Government so long to resettle the refugees

Mr Abbott was responding to growing calls to remove asylum seeker children from the Pacific island.

"Nauru is no hell-hole by any means. I've been there," Mr Abbott told radio station 2GB.

"If you like living in the tropics, it's a very, very pleasant island."

Medical groups including the Australian Medical Association and Medicin Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) have called for the immediate removal of children from the island.

MSF says their situation is "beyond desperate" and that the island's mental health facilities are unable to cope.

MSF doctors said in some circumstances children were semi-comatose, incontinent and unable to speak.

However, Mr Abbott said the medical facilities on Nauru were better than those available in some country towns in Australia.

And he said bringing children to Australia would encourage people smugglers.

"'Kids off Nauru' is a great slogan, but it's a dreadful guide for policy," he said.

"If we aren't allowed to have kids on Nauru, then [people smugglers will say] just bring some kids with you and you automatically get to Australia."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government had been reducing the number of children on Nauru. ( AAP: Department of Immigration )

Nauruans 'offended' by criticism

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Australian Government had been removing children from Nauru but hadn't been "showboating" about it.

"We've been reducing the population of children on Nauru," he said.

"That's fallen by over 30 in just the last few weeks and the number is now less than 50."

He said some of the commentary about the living standards on Nauru was unhelpful and he urged people to "show respect".

"There are 10,000 Nauruans who live on Nauru. That's their home," Mr Morrison said.

"They get frankly a bit offended about the way that people talk about their home.

"That's where they've chosen to live and they feel very proud of their home."

Asylum seekers 'not happy'

The Federal Opposition said many asylum seekers and refugees living on Nauru had lost hope.

In government, Labor implemented policies that lead to offshore detention.

However Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek said it shouldn't be taking the Government so long to resettle them.

"Those refugees and asylum seekers who've been there now for five years would not be happy," she said.

"They're looking for some permanency, stability, a future."

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said if Mr Abbott liked Nauru, he should live there.

"If Tony Abbott thinks Nauru is so "pleasant" perhaps he could swap places with the children locked up there in detention," she said on Twitter.

The Government says children on Nauru are not locked up, and are living in the Nauruan community.

Nauru is heavily reliant on foreign aid, receiving $US23 million in international assistance in 2016, according to the World Bank.