Refugees in Australia’s remote camps offered US resettlement

Refugees in Australia’s remote camps offered US resettlement

November 14, 2016
Migrants sit in the vessel Responder, run by the Malta-based NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) and the Italian Red Cross, as it arrives at the port of Vibo Valentia, southern Italy, in this Nov. 7, 2016 file photo. — AP
Migrants sit in the vessel Responder, run by the Malta-based NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) and the Italian Red Cross, as it arrives at the port of Vibo Valentia, southern Italy, in this Nov. 7, 2016 file photo. — AP


SYDNEY — Refugees held on remote Pacific camps after trying to reach Australia by boat will be resettled in the US in a “one-off” deal, the premier says, a breakthrough that could see the controversial facilities closed.

Canberra sends asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat to detention facilities on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island and Nauru. They are blocked from resettling in Australia even if found to be refugees.

“The arrangements with the United States will offer the opportunity for refugees, both on Nauru and Manus, to be resettled,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters in Canberra.

“It is a one-off agreement. It will not be repeated... Our priority is the resettlement of women, children and families.”

Successive Australian governments have sought to stem waves of boat migration by people from war-torn Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Middle East, using harsh policies including turning back the vessels, and strict secrecy about operations on the high seas and at the remote camps.

Although the latest policies by the current conservative government largely stopped the arrivals, conditions in the camps have been widely criticized by refugee advocates and medical professionals.

They say some asylum-seekers suffer from mental health problems due to their prolonged, indefinite detention.

The UNHCR said the arrangement was a “much-needed, long-term solution” but warned that options should be found for everyone on Manus and Nauru.

“This announcement is full of holes. No timeframe. No numbers,” added Daniel Webb from the Human Rights Law Centre, which has challenged offshore detention in court.

“This ugly chapter in our history only closes when every single man, woman and child suffering at our government’s hand on Nauru and Manus is finally rebuilding their lives in safety. No one can be left behind.” — AFP


November 14, 2016
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