CANBERRA, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has announced the closure of two onshore immigration detention facilities.

 

   In a move that the government is claiming as a win for its tough border protection policies, Immigration Minister David Coleman said that Maribyrnong in Melbourne and Villawood in Sydney would be closed.
 

   They mark the 18th and 19th immigration detention centers closed by this government during its two terms in power.
 

   There are approximately 1,250 people currently in Australia's eight remaining immigration detention centers, down from 10,200 in mid-2013.
 

   "The government has stopped the boats, got the children out of detention and closed the once-full immigration detention facilities," Coleman said in a statement.

   Maribyrnong was closed immediately after the remaining 107 detainees were transferred while Villawood will be shut down by the middle on 2019.
 

   Stopping asylum seekers from coming to Australia by boat was one of the key pillars of the Liberal National Party's 2013 election campaign where it won power from the Australian Labor Party (ALP).
 

   "Under the previous Labor government, 50,000 people ¬arrived on 800 boats, 1,200 people tragically drowned at sea and 8,000 children were put in detention," Coleman said.
 

   "At its peak in July 2013, there were more than 10,000 people held in immigration detention ¬facilities in Australia, including 2,000 children."

   Every single one of those children who were in detention in 2013 have now been removed.
 

   Coleman attacked Labor over its border protection policies, saying the former government was "forced to open 17 detention centers to deal with the catastrophic failures of their policies."
 

   The current government's closures have saved Australia 500 million Australian dollars (352.4 million U.S. dollars), he added.

 

​