Australia accused of U-turn on refugees

THE UN accused Australia yesterday of backtracking on a deal to relax its strong stance on asylum-seekers and resettle some refugees now held in overseas detention on home soil.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it had agreed last November to help relocate the boatpeople to the US on the basis that Canberra would accept some of them who have links to Australia.

“We agreed to do so on the clear understanding that vulnerable refugees with close family ties in Australia would ultimately be allowed to settle there,” commissioner Filippo Grandi said in a statement.“UNHCR has recently been informed by Australia that it refuses to accept even these refugees.”

He added that they, along with the others in camps on the neighbouring nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea, had been told their only option was to stay where they were or be transferred to Cambodia or the United States.

Australia sends anyone who tries to enter by boat without a visa to remote detention facilities on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island. Even those subsequently found to be genuine refugees are barred from settling in Australia. The immigration department said yesterday this had long been the case.

“The position of the coalition government has been clear and consistent: those transferred to regional processing centres will never settle in Australia,” said a spokesperson.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull struck a pact with former US President Barack Obama to resettle some refugees in the camps in America. US President Donald Trump has grudgingly agreed to honour the deal, although it is unclear how many Washington will accept.