Even after a judge declared that the Papua New Guinea center was unlawful, Australia still sends a limited number of asylum seekers to Nauru each month via boat.
According to an Australian official who spoke to Reuters, the Trump Administration’s ban on refugee programs has impacted dozens of refugees who came to Australia by boat ten years ago and were hoping to resettle in the US.
According to a Home Affairs official, Australia is “awaiting further advice” from the US government over the continued operation of its refugee program, which was halted on January 20 by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump.
“Less than 30 transitory individuals continue to pursue resettlement in the United States through the US resettlement arrangement – cases are at various stages of the process,” he stated.
Asylum seekers who come to Australia by boat are not permitted to settle there. Ten years ago, Canberra implemented a strict offshore processing program that involved sending boat arrivals to camps in the Pacific Island countries of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Nauru for the evaluation of refugee claims.
The United States promised to accept up to 1250 refugees from the offshore processing centers in PNG and Nauru as part of a 2016 agreement with the Obama Administration.
Despite his complaints, Trump accepted the arrangement during his first term in office.
Although many were also at “various stages of pre-departure activities,” the Home Affairs Department reported in August that 1106 refugees had been able to resettle in the United States under the agreement.
According to a statement, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will tour the regional processing center when he arrives in Nauru on Thursday.
“Nauru remains ready to receive and process any new unauthorised maritime arrivals, future-proofing Australia’s response to maritime people smuggling,” a spokeswoman for the department stated.
Australia and New Zealand are negotiating the extension of a resettlement agreement.
