SYDNEY — Australia has started ferrying immigrants to the barren Pacific nation of Nauru under a contentious deal inked this year, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Tuesday.

A cohort of around 350 immigrants — many of them convicted of serious crimes including assault, drug smuggling and even murder — could eventually be sent to the low-lying atoll after Australia failed to resettle them elsewhere.

“Nauru confirmed last Friday that the first transfer had occurred,” Burke said in a statement.

Burke did not detail how many immigrants had been sent to Nauru.

For years the group languished inside Australia’s immigration detention system after their visas were cancelled for violent crimes or because officials held other concerns.

Australia was unable to deport them back home because th

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