US immigration officials ‘blocks’ controversial refugee resettlement plan
US immigration officials have postponed interviews with asylum seekers in an Australian camp on the Pacific island of Nauru since President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration, suggesting Washington is already blocking progress on a controversial refugee resettlement deal.
Trump calls deal to resettle refugees in Nauru 'dumb'
The deal sparked a rare diplomatic spat between the two staunch allies, with President Trump berating Australia's prime minister in an angry phone call that led to quick moves in Washington to reaffirm the strength of the relationship.
Asylum seekers on Nauru who are applying to settle in the United States under the refugee swap deal, agreed in the final months of Barack Obama's presidency late last year, said that planned second-round interview dates with visiting US officials had been postponed indefinitely.
Under the deal, the United States would take up to 1,250 asylum seekers. In return, Australia would take refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
US immigration officials postponed interviews with asylum seekers in an Australian camp on Nauru
Donald Trump sworn in as 45th President of United States
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
More than a dozen asylum seekers on both Nauru and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, site of another Australian offshore detention camp, told Reuters they were afraid for their future since Trump said “extreme vetting” would be used and after his testy phone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
We are deeply concerned about the US deal
“We are deeply concerned about the US deal,” Imran Mohammad, 22, a stateless man from the Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma, said.
“We don't know what to believe and the uncertainty is getting worse and worse,” he said. “It is killing us inside every day.”
There are around 1,200 refugees, mostly single men, being held at Australian processing camps on Manus Island and Nauru in conditions that have been harshly criticised by the United Nations and human rights agencies.
Donald Trump signing an executive order
The Australian government, which maintains a strict policy of not allowing anyone who tries to reach the country by boat to settle here, has never detailed the nationalities of the detainees but refugee advocates say most are from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Sudan.
President Trump's executive order last week suspended the US refugee programme for 120 days and stopped visits by travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days.
President Trump has begrudgingly said he planned to stand by the deal, but described it on Twitter as “dumb”. Also, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley called on President Trump's administration to make the details of the deal public, noting it was made without Congressional approval.