One of the federal government's busiest policy areas in 2018 was immigration.
Refugee and asylum seeker issues dominated but didn't drown out debate over the size of the migrant intake or the government's ideas to encourage - or force - more migrants to settle in Australia's troubled regional areas.
Australia's offshore detention policy has always been controversial and refugee activists, mental health professionals and human rights groups constantly make calls for it to be abandoned.
In October, the Nauruan government forced medical aid agency M-S-F ((Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders)) off the island at short notice, putting an end to its work supporting the mental health care of almost 300 people in the 11 months it operated on Nauru.
Not long after returning to Australia, MSF staff spoke of the mental suffering they witnessed with people either committing suicide, being suicidal or suffering from what's known as resignation syndrome, a depressive condition that can leave children and adults semi-comatose and unable to eat and drink.
President of MSF Australia, Doctor Stewart Condon, said what's taking place on Nauru is among the worst MSF has ever seen around the world, including in projects providing care for victims of torture.
Listen to the feature in Bangla in the audio player above.
