Cambodia backs off threat to scrap Australian refugee deal

Cambodia’s prime minister and deputy prime minister have committed to accepting more refugees processed in the Australian-run immigration detention centre, Mr Dutton said, after he stopped off in Phnom Penh on his way home from from European discussions about Syrian refugees.

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said he did not attend the meeting, however, and had no idea what was discussed.

However, these efforts have done little to mitigate the fact that one of the four – the lone Rohingya man in his 20s – has asked to be sent back to Myanmar after living in Cambodia for only a little over three months.

After Dutton’s meeting with Hun Sen, a Cambodian government spokesman told news media that the Southeast Asian nation is “ready to accept more refugees”.

Earlier Thursday, Dutton’s office released a statement saying that talks held Wednesday with Prime Minister Hun Sen and Interior Minister Sar Kheng “reinforced the commitment of both nations to the successful implementation of the resettlement arrangements for refugees from Nauru”.

“They have identified some strengths and weaknesses and we’ll work with the Cambodians to make sure that we can iron those out in the next group of people that come through”.

The deal, which the two countries toasted with champagne in a rushed ceremony in Phnom Penh a year ago, has been criticized on numerous grounds by rights organizations, church groups, and opposition politicians in both countries.

But critics say that Cambodia, whose human rights record is spotty and where economic opportunity is relatively scarce, is an undesirable option for refugees.

Mr Dutton still will not say how many refugees will ultimately be resettled in Cambodia, and he said the amount would ultimately depend on the number that volunteer. “It’s not even the country’s fault”.

Dutton’s statement Thursday said Hun Sen and Kheng “committed to facilitating further resettlement of refugees from Nauru who have expressed interest in moving to Cambodia and to measures to accelerate the integration of refugees into Cambodian society”. Dutton said more refugees were ready to make the trip.

The government has thrown huge resources to convince refugees on Nauru to go to Cambodia with immigration officials on the Pacific island portraying Cambodia as a sort of developing utopia. Three are Iranian; the other is an ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar. They are concerned about the young man’s repatriation request and recent remarks from a Myanmar embassy official referring to Rohingya as Bengali, and are keen to reassure him that, lonely and hard as Cambodia may be, a return to Myanmar would be incredibly unsafe.

Because the arrangement did not specify how many refugees were to be relocated under the deal, Cambodia’s obligations to accept more than the first group have been unclear. “We will send our people from the Interior Ministry [to Nauru] to interview the volunteer refugees before bringing them to Cambodia”.

“First, we need to find out if this group really wants to come”.