U.S. officials arrive in Australia to
begin assessing asylum seekers
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[November 19, 2016]
By Harry Pearl
SYDNEY (Reuters) - U.S. officials have
arrived in Australia to begin assessing asylum seekers held on Papua New
Guinea’s Manus Island and Nauru for resettlement in the United States,
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Saturday.
Australia announced last week it had reached a deal in which the United
States would take a substantial number of the 1,200 refugees held at the
Australian-funded offshore processing centers, although the election of
Donald Trump has injected uncertainty into the agreement.
Trump started campaigning for the presidency by advocating a blanket ban
on Muslims entering the United States, but later adjusted his stance to
propose that the ban should apply to people from nations that had been
"compromised by terrorism".
Many of asylum seekers at the camps are Muslims who have fled conflicts
in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“Officials from Homeland Security are in Australia right now in fact and
they will be going to Nauru shortly,” Turnbull said on the sidelines of
the APEC summit in Lima, Peru. A transcript of his remarks to
journalists was issued by his office.
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Resettlement is unlikely to come before Trump's January 20 inauguration,
and Turnbull said the timeline would be determined by American
officials.
Professor Simon Jackman, chief executive of the United States Studies
Centre at Sydney University, said the deal may require further
negotiation once Trump was in office.
“All of the signs from the Trump administration are that deals like this
are looked at unfavorably,” Jackman said.
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![](../images/111916pics/news_t35.jpg)
Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the media
after a tour of the Australian Maritime Border Command Centre in
Canberra, November 13, 2016. AAP/Lukas Coch/via REUTERS
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Should Trump veto the deal, the detainees would be left with the
choice of returning to their home countries or remaining in Nauru or
Papua New Guinea.
Turnbull is facing growing outrage both at home and internationally
over the treatment of the refugees. A U.S. veto may force him to
search for another country willing to take them.
Under Australia's tough border security laws, asylum seekers
intercepted trying to reach the country by boat are sent for
processing at detention camps Manus island and Nauru.
(Reporting by Harry Pearl; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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