Refugees headed Down Under

Australia to accept first Central American refugees under deal with US

Australia will accept several dozen Central American refugees within the next few months, two sources familiar with the process told Reuters, the first transfers under a controversial refugee swap arrangement agreed with the United States.

Canberra pledged to take an unspecified number of Central American refugees under a deal struck with former US President Barack Obama late last year.

In exchange, Washington said that it would accept up to 1,250 asylum seekers held in Australian immigration centres in the Pacific Island nations of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Nauru that Australia wants to close.

A group of approximately 30 refugees from El Salvador currently being held in Costa Rica will move to Australia in the next couple of months, the two sources said with a second group of a similar size to follow shortly afterwards. “The group have been vetted and will likely move in the (northern hemisphere) fall,” said one source who was not authorised to speak to media.

Officials at United States Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) and the State Department’s Population, Refugees and Migration bureau did not respond to requests for comment outside regular office hours. The U.S. Embassy in Canberra did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The transfer of the Salvadoran refugees to Australia will focus attention on US steps to uphold its end of the agreement, described by President Donald Trump as a “dumb deal” for America.

None of the refugees on PNG’s Manus Island or Nauru, mostly men from the Middle East and South Asia, have been approved to move to the US yet.

There are about 200 refugees in Costa Rica as part of a programme set up by Mr Obama last year for people deemed too vulnerable to remain in their Central American homelands. Once vetted for criminal associations, including gangs, they are eligible for resettlement in the US.