AUSTRALIA-CAMBODIA/REFUGEES Plane with 4 refugees from Australian detention in Nauru lands in Cambodia

Record ID: 150128

  • Title: AUSTRALIA-CAMBODIA/REFUGEES Plane with 4 refugees from Australian detention in Nauru lands in Cambodia
  • Date: 4th June 2015
  • Summary: PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (JUNE 4, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF AIRPORT POLICEMEN STAND GUARDING AT THE ENTRANCE OF AIRPORT VAN CARRYING FOUR REFUGEES FROM NAURU DRIVING INTO ENTRANCE OF AIRPORT MEDIA CAMBODIA FLAG AND A PLANE PARKING AT THE AIRPORT BUS CARRYING THE FOUR REFUGEES DRIVING TO THE VIP AIRPORT SECTION REFUGEES WALKING TOWARD THE VAN FROM THE VIP AIRPORT SECTION POLI
  • Embargoed: 19th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cambodia
  • Country: Cambodia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABV7POFD58XRD57XI7YO449B6
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A plane carrying four refugees from an Australian detention centre on Nauru landed in Cambodia on Thursday (June 4), airport officials said, the only asylum seekers to take part in a controversial resettlement project between the Australia and Cambodia.
    The refugees are three Iranians and one Rohingya, a mostly stateless Muslim minority residing in Myanmar, according to the Refugee Action Coalition in Australia. They were among the 677 detainees held on the Pacific Island of Nauru.
    The deal between Australia and Cambodia, struck last September, has been criticized by rights groups and the political opposition in both countries, who accuse Australia of shirking international obligations by dumping asylum seekers on other countries.
    Cambodia has agreed to take four refugees held by Australia on the Pacific island of Nauru, kickstarting a controversial deal under which Phnom Penh will receive an extra $30 million in aid in return for accepting asylum seekers.
    The agreement only applies to refugees willing to go to Cambodia, one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in Southeast Asia, and so far none had volunteered despite incentives including cash payments.
    The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said when the deal was signed that it was deeply concerned about the agreement and that Australia, as signatory to the U.N. Refugee Convention, should not shift its responsibility for refugees elsewhere.
    Australia has been criticized at home and abroad for its tough immigration policies, which include sending asylum seekers to camps in impoverished Papua New Guinea and Nauru, where they face long periods of detention.
    The majority of asylum seekers on Nauru hail from the Middle East and Africa and tried to reach Australia by boat with the help of people smugglers.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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