Source spills Trump will credit refugee resettlement deal with Australia
US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have reportedly discussed refugee resettlement deal between the two countries. A source close to the Australian government has confirmed that Trump’s administration will honour the deal.
Reuters has learned that Trump has greenlit the deal to resettle asylum seekers held in offshore detention camps to the US to go ahead. The two officials in both countries allegedly spoke over the phone on Sunday.
The conversation between Trump and Turnbull is one of the conversations the new US president has attended to. These include talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Officials of US Homeland Security have started with the assessment of the asylum seekers. As to when the genuine refugees will be resettled is yet to be announced.
The deal’s confirmation took place less than 24 hours since the US president has signed an executive order that allows refugees from Syria and six other Muslim-majority countries into America. The hold was set to remain for four months. The aforementioned executive order is also known as "extreme vetting."
The Land Down Under’s hardline immigration policy has been a debatable issue that was condemned by the United States and other rights groups. Despite this, the policy remains prominent in Australia and is supported by the Turnbull government.
The country has stood up for its hardline immigration policy in spite of persistent protests and a number of medical evacuations from a camp in the small Pacific Island nation of Nauru. Turnbull defended the country’s policy, saying it is needed to put off smugglers from organising hazardous sea voyages.
In a public speech, he has stressed that border protection should not be theorised. "We do not theorise about border protection. We know what happens when those policies were abandoned: 1,200 people died at sea ... it was a catastrophe," he said.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch, a refugee advocacy group, has described the death of a man on Nauru as "senseless" and a result of "Australia's inhumane refugee policies." "Refugees who have fled persecution in their homelands don't deserve a life in limbo in a detention centre or effectively imprisoned on a tiny remote island," the group's Australian director Elaine Pearson said.
Last year, hundreds of protesters marched through central Sydney. Flanked by authorities, they were carrying signs and chanting slogans like "refugees are welcome here.”
