Leader of the Australian Greens Senator Christine Milne, Greens Immigration spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Pamela Curr, campaign coordinator at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre held a press conference today to launch a new video featuring Afghan refugee and human rights spokesperson Najeeba Wazefadost.

They commented on the Greens' and the refugee sector's push for safer pathways for refugees ahead of the Expert Panel handing down their recommendations next week, and call on the government to compromise on their obsession with deterrents and punishment.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Australian Greens spokesperson for Immigration and Citizenship, is currently visiting Indonesia and available for interview and comment. She is there to investigate the factors holding up refugee assessment and causing people to take dangerous boat journeys.

The Australian Greens have today urged the Gillard government to follow the recommendations of Amnesty International's report to impose time limits on detention and shut down remote detention centres.

"If we want to stop already fragile people from harming themselves or taking their lives, the only way to do it is by closing detention centres on Christmas Island and elsewhere," Greens' immigration spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young.

The Australian Greens are the only political party trying to change unjust laws which are keeping Indonesian children and adults stuck in prison without charge for longer than people accused of serious offences.

"While the old parties squabble about leadership challenges, the Greens are drafting bills and having them referred to inquiries to address the legal and procedural black holes," Greens' immigration spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said today.

The Daily Telegraph has blown an opportunity to tell its readers the reality of what happens when asylum seekers are released into the community, the Australian Greens said today.

"Last year the paper showed the dangers asylum seekers faced under the Malaysian solution, but this year it has given a false picture of community release programs here on shore," Greens' immigration spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said.

"That's a real disappointment because there are so many myths about asylum seekers which continue to be perpetuated.

The UNHCR chief, Antonio Guterres, has last night highlighted the relatively small number of asylum seekers seeking Australia's protection compared to countries including Italy, the Australian Greens said.

"Last year 58,000 people arrived in Italy and Malta and 100,000 reached Yemen, compared to around 6,000 in Australia," Greens' immigration spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said.

"Despite what some may want to believe, we do not have a national security problem, we have a humanitarian one and we need to keep things in perspective.

The Immigration Department's figures showing 528 children are being held in immigration detention across the country, giving 528 reasons why the rules need to be changed so children are not simply incarcerated as a matter of course the Greens said today.

The $1 billion Australian taxpayers are spending on private company Serco's detention centre contract would be better off going toward a public denticare scheme, the Australian Greens said today.

"Letting detainees live in the community after initial health and security checks while their protection claims are assessed is 90 percent cheaper and 100 percent fairer compared to a detention centre," Greens' immigration spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said.

Sarah's Senate courtyard door stop on the $1billion going to Serco to maintain detention centres compared to having detainees living in the community.