SYDNEY, Australia — President Trump confirmed that his administration would honor a refugee resettlement deal for the United States to accept migrants
“>Australia has detained on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Manus, the Australian prime minister said on Monday.
Mr. Trump agreed to maintain the agreement, reached under the Obama administration, during a 25-minute telephone call on Sunday, said the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. The election of Mr. Trump, whose harsh talk about immigration was central to his campaign, left the deal in doubt, and its future was considered an early test for relations between the United States and Australia.
“I thank President Trump for his commitment to honor that existing agreement,” Mr. Turnbull said during a news conference on Monday in Canberra, the Australian capital. Mr. Turnbull did not provide details on how many refugees, who have been banished to Nauru and Manus by Australia after being intercepted at sea trying to reach its shores, would be going to the United States under the one-time agreement or when they were likely to be resettled. Hundreds of people are housed in offshore detention facilities on the islands in what rights groups describe as inhumane conditions.
The deal had been under negotiation for months before being announced in mid-November, shortly after Mr. Trump was elected. As a presidential candidate, he pressed for a temporary ban on all Muslim immigration, though his campaign later said that the ban would apply only to migrants from “terror-prone regions.” His executive order on immigration, enacted on Friday, banned immediate entry into the United States by people from several predominantly Muslim countries, and it further fueled speculation that the deal with Australia might be derailed.
Dougal Robinson, a research fellow at the United States Studies Center at the University of Sydney, estimated that fewer than 2,000 detainees would be sent to the United States. “They’ve already had significant vetting by Australian authorities and any refugees that will be settled in the U.S. will be subject to ‘extreme vetting’ by Department of Homeland Security,” Mr. Robinson said. “If the Trump administration at any point is going to accept refugees then these refugees are probably better placed than most others.”
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Mr. Trump’s order closed the nation to refugees and people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The majority of refugees on Manus and Nauru are from Iran and Iraq, and it is unclear whether a proven refugee on Nauru and Manus who is from those countries and had been successfully vetted by the Homeland Security Department would receive the same treatment as a refugee not from those countries. “We don’t have a clear indication of the mechanics of the deal and how it will work,” Mr. Robinson said.
The Australian government has pledged never to accept migrants who attempt to come to the country by boat. Those who are intercepted at sea are housed indefinitely on offshore islands, which the government says is necessary to deter human traffickers who often pack migrants into boats for the long journeys.
Mr. Turnbull said Monday that Australia had border security arrangements that were the envy of the world. “We’ve got very strong systems,” he said. “We’re proud of those, and we’ll maintain them, and where we can, we will enhance them.”
SYDNEY, Australia — President Trump confirmed that his administration would honor a refugee resettlement deal for the United States to accept migrants Australia has detained on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Manus, the Australian prime minister said on Monday.
Mr. Trump agreed to maintain the agreement, reached under the Obama administration, during a 25-minute telephone call on Sunday, said the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. The election of Mr. Trump, whose harsh talk about immigration was central to his campaign, left the deal in doubt, and its future was considered an early test for relations between the United States and Australia.
“I thank President Trump for his commitment to honor that existing agreement,” Mr. Turnbull said during a news conference on Monday in Canberra, the Australian capital. Mr. Turnbull did not provide details on how many refugees, who have been banished to Nauru and Manus by Australia after being intercepted at sea trying to reach its shores, would be going to the United States under the one-time agreement or when they were likely to be resettled. Hundreds of people are housed in offshore detention facilities on the islands in what rights groups describe as inhumane conditions.
The deal had been under negotiation for months before being announced in mid-November, shortly after Mr. Trump was elected. As a presidential candidate, he pressed for a temporary ban on all Muslim immigration, though his campaign later said that the ban would apply only to migrants from “terror-prone regions.” His executive order on immigration, enacted on Friday, banned immediate entry into the United States by people from several predominantly Muslim countries, and it further fueled speculation that the deal with Australia might be derailed.
Dougal Robinson, a research fellow at the United States Studies Center at the University of Sydney, estimated that fewer than 2,000 detainees would be sent to the United States. “They’ve already had significant vetting by Australian authorities and any refugees that will be settled in the U.S. will be subject to ‘extreme vetting’ by Department of Homeland Security,” Mr. Robinson said. “If the Trump administration at any point is going to accept refugees then these refugees are probably better placed than most others.”
Thank you for subscribing.
An error has occurred. Please try again later.
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Mr. Trump’s order closed the nation to refugees and people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The majority of refugees on Manus and Nauru are from Iran and Iraq, and it is unclear whether a proven refugee on Nauru and Manus who is from those countries and had been successfully vetted by the Homeland Security Department would receive the same treatment as a refugee not from those countries. “We don’t have a clear indication of the mechanics of the deal and how it will work,” Mr. Robinson said.
The Australian government has pledged never to accept migrants who attempt to come to the country by boat. Those who are intercepted at sea are housed indefinitely on offshore islands, which the government says is necessary to deter human traffickers who often pack migrants into boats for the long journeys.
Mr. Turnbull said Monday that Australia had border security arrangements that were the envy of the world. “We’ve got very strong systems,” he said. “We’re proud of those, and we’ll maintain them, and where we can, we will enhance them.”
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