US starts ‘extreme vetting’ at Australia’s offshore detention centres
SYDNEY: U.S. Homeland Security officials have begun ‘extreme vetting’ interviews at Australia’s offshore detention centres, two sources at the camps told Reuters yesterday, as Washington honours a refugee swap that US President Donald Trump had called ‘a dumb deal’.
The Trump administration said last month the agreement to offer refuge to up to 1,250 asylum seekers in the centres would progress on condition that refugees satisfied strict checks.
In exchange, Australia has pledged to take Central American refugees from a centre in Costa Rica, where the United States has expanded intake in recent years, under the deal struck with former President Barack Obama.
The first security interviews finished last week at Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island detention centre, two refugees who went through the process told Reuters.
The refugees told Reuters that interviews began with an oath to God to tell the truth and then proceeded for as long as six hours, with in-depth questions on associates, family, friends and any interactions with the Islamic State militant group.
“They asked about why I fled my home, why I sought asylum in Australia,” said one refugee who declined to be named, fearing it could jeopardise his application for US resettlement.
The security interviews are the last stage of US consideration of applicants.
Manus Island is one of two Australian-operated detention centres, which hold nearly 1,300 people who were intercepted trying to reach Australia by boat.
A decision on the fate of the first 70 people interviewed is expected to be reached within the next month, a different source who works with refugees said.
US President Donald Trump’s plans for extreme vetting have extended to those travelling to the United States from Muslim countries.
The relocation of asylum seekers to the United States is designed to help Papua New Guinea and Australia proceed with the planned closure of the Manus detention centre on Oct. 31.
But the fate of approximately 200 men deemed non-refugees is uncertain.
Those not offered resettlement in the United States will be offered the chance to settle in Papua New Guinea or return home.
Australia has already offered detainees up to US$25,000 to voluntarily return home; an offer very few have taken up. — Reuters