Australia is to accept several dozen Central American refugees within the next few months, two sources familiar with the process told reporters, the first transfers under a controversial refugee swap arrangement agreed with the US.
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 it would accept up to 1,250 asylum seekers held in Australian immigration centers in the Pacific Island nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru that Australia wants to close.
A group of about 30 refugees from El Salvador who are being held in Costa Rica are to 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 fall,” said one source, who was not authorized to speak to the media about the arrangements.
The transfer of the Salvadorean refugees to Australia would focus attention on US steps to uphold its end of the agreement, described by US President Donald Trump as a “dumb deal” for the US.
None of the refugees on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island or Nauru — mostly men from the Middle East and South Asia — have been approved to move to the US yet. Earlier this month, US officials halted screening interviews after the US reached its annual refugee intake cap.
There are about 200 refugees in Costa Rica as part of a program set up by 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, while others can be transferred to third countries as part of a UN scheme.
Trump’s administration has said it would honor the swap agreement to maintain its strong relationship with Australia, subject to the refugees satisfying strict vetting checks.
Trump’s initial resistance to the deal strained relations with a key Asia-Pacific ally, triggering a fractious phone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier this year.
Turnbull, under pressure in opinion polls and from within his own party, can ill-afford for the US to renege on the agreement, said Sean Kelly, an adviser to former Australian prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.
“The deal has become yet another test of [Turnbull’s] leadership,” Kelly said. “If it fails, that will be a big black mark against him, and he knows that.”
Australia’s hardline immigration policy requires asylum seekers intercepted at sea to be sent for processing at the camps on Manus and Nauru. The system, criticized by the UN and human rights groups, has cost taxpayers A$4.9 billion (US$3.89 billion) since it was introduced in 2013, Australian officials said earlier this month.
Refugees are told they would never be settled in Australia.
Australia had hoped to have the bulk of the refugees resettled in the US by the end of October, when the center on Manus is to close after a Papua New Guinea court ruling.
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