The Abbott government painted ‘an absurdly rosy picture of life in Cambodia’ in promotional material

The IOM’s Asia-Pacific spokesman, Joe Lowry, has defended the organisation’s involvement in the programme, which is to oversee the resettlement. “We weighed up very, very carefully what potential reputational damage could be done to [the] IOM for getting involved and providing the services against the needs of these vulnerable migrants, and we came to the conclusion that they’re better off if they want to voluntarily come to Cambodia and build lives for themselves over here, rather than languish on Nauru,” he told the Phnom Penh Post. Mr Lowry also made it clear the migrants had been through a “nightmare” and that the situation was far from ideal.

It is to be hoped the four migrants, who have been deemed to be refugees fleeing persecution, can indeed establish new lives for themselves in Cambodia, and that their families can follow suit. They have been through a terrible situation and are no doubt doing what they think is best. But this does nothing to diminish the harsh nature of Australia’s asylum seeker policy, one which has been criticised as inhumane through a succession of governments, but seems only to be getting worse.

The start of the Cambodia Solution also sends a terrible signal to Southeast Asia at a time when governments around the region are struggling to deal with a range of migration and human trafficking problems. Cambodia, to the east, has been criticised for taking Australia’s money while turning away ethnic minorities who claim they are being persecuted in Vietnam. Myanmar, to the west, refuses to acknowledge the Rohingya in Rakhine state as citizens, leading to a well-documented exodus and a series of crises in which Thailand has been involved. Suddenly Indonesia and Malaysia, for all their faults, seem like progressive and welcoming countries, having accepted Rohingya and asylum seekers from further afield quietly over the years and more publicly and dramatically in recent weeks. Thailand can be forgiven for feeling caught in the middle, but it too simple to point fingers of blame any which way. It is not for nothing that the US Trafficking in Persons Report has consistently called the country a source, transit point and destination: we are in the middle not only geographically but politically.

The region has several strongmen who have worn uniforms, but a dearth of genuine leadership. They are more interested in maintaining their power and position than helping the most vulnerable. The arrival of the first migrants under the Cambodia Solution only serves to emphasise the region’s moral vacuum on migration and human trafficking.